With My Life
by SeldomFollowIt
Summary: Pairings:Akuroku/Soiku/Zemyx/&Others - After an attack that leaves Roxas badly injured for the umpteenth time, Cloud believes Roxas is in need of a new, more capable body guard. Eighth time's a charm, right? Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter One: The Prelude

YES, I _do_ realize that summary is very cheesy, I'm not good at them. Anyone who gets a better idea for one should throw it my way.

**Disclaimer:** I AM ONLY GOING TO SAY THIS ONCE, AND THAT IS IT. I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix && others do, so ha. Now, for the rest of the chapters I do will not do disclaimers, only the first one, because I AM LAZYYY.

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**Chapter One:** The Prelude

"Roxas."

Roxas stared out the hospital window; pointedly ignoring his eldest brothers gentle, yet commanding voice.

"Roxas..please look at me."

He continued to ignore Cloud.

There was a sigh. "Don't force me to bring Sora in here." A slight plead to his tone, nearly undetectable. Roxas flicked a glare over, but kept his mouth shut. He adjusted himself on the hospital bed; making his closed bed-ridden position more inviting to conversation, yet still not looking at Cloud. He didn't speak; just making himself approachable was enough to send the message.

"I'm sorry, this is the last time, I promise. I'll get you a better body guard." Adding as an afterthought, "One that won't fail so quickly."

Roxas' face snapped so furiously towards his brother, that it made him feel slightly nauseous, due to a previous concussion. "That's what you said _last time_, and the time before that, and even _before that_, Cloud. Frankly, I'm sick of it. I'm sick of _this!_" He held out his broken arm, which was in a splint, for emphasis. His other hand rubbed distractedly at the bandages around his forehead.

"I know," Cloud said softly, looking down. "I'm sorry, Roxas. _I am sorry_. I don't know how many times you wish for me to say it before you'll forgive me. I can't keep them from dying, I'm not God. It's in their job description."

Roxas looked away, glaring out the window into the lovely view…of the hospital parking lot.

"..but you _are_ the one who picks them out. You could at least find one who is actually _good_ at their job." His soft mutterings were as close as Cloud was going to get to forgiveness, and Cloud knew it.

Cloud stood up from the chair next to Roxas' bedside, gently ruffling his youngest brother's hair. "I promise by the time that arm of yours is healed, I'll have found you the best body guard possible."

'_You better.' _Roxas thought bitterly. He continued to stare out the window before speaking with a tone of curiosity. "…Better than Riku?"

A hint of a smile crossed Cloud's face as he made his way to one of his own forms of protection; Leon. "Better than Riku. I'll come to pick you up in a couple days, in the mean time Vincent will be watching over you." He promised.

Roxas nodded as the two men walked out the door with soft farewells.

* * *

"Sora, you may go in now."

Sora snapped his head towards Cloud upon his exit and soft approval of entrance, nodding briskly before bounding from his chair into Roxas' room, screaming the blonde's name at the top of his lungs, closely followed by a smirking Riku.

As Cloud and Leon walked down the hall to the elevators, all they could hear were Roxas' screams of pain and anguish as he was assaulted by his twin brother, not able to do much more in his bed ridden condition.

**TBC**

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Ehh, chapter one, _very_ short. Seems more like a prologue. I just started this fanfic randomly, out of nowhere. I don't even know where this will be going, so please bare with me. I have the general idea xD but some things are still a bit iffy. Also, vote whether you would like Cloud to be with either Leon or Sephiroth, because at this point it could go either way.

Uhhm. Review, and all that jazz? Tell me what you think and stuff, haha, so professional sounding, I know. I'm just that skilled.

**Also, couples:** Axel/Roxas, Sora/Riku, Demyx/Zexion, Hayner/Seifer, Pence/Olette, Rai/Fuu. Cloud will either be with Leon or Sephiroth depending on you guys. Not really sure about other characters like Namine, Kairi, Reno and stuff. Who do you think they should end up with? :]

Ehh, forgot I already put the most important couples in the summery orz


	2. Chapter Two: First Impressions

Thank you everyone for all the reviews! I was shocked to say the least, considering I'm only doing this story for fun, hahaha. Personally I don't like this chapter because I feel like Roxas is being an annoying little bitch, but I think if I edited anymore it would just get worse ...orz

Many people wish to know why Cloud, Roxas and Sora need bodyguards, I promise you'll find out soon, although not this chapter ;] Enough of my babbling, enjoy!

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**Chapter Two:** First Impressions

Roxas climbed into that back seat of the sleek black car (dark tinted windows and all) after Sora and Riku. At the same time Vincent opened the door to the driver's seat before getting in, starting the car and driving out of the hospital parking lot, releasing a soft murmur telling them to put on their seat-belts.

The blonde rubbed his weak left arm gently. It felt so weird being out of the cast. So much lighter. Less sweaty, yet clammier. Almost more itchy, and a bit dry. The blue removable splint was meant to stay on for a week or two until his arm could manage on its own after being out of the cast, but Roxas couldn't help taking it off and staring at his nearly healed arm. Limbs always looked and felt so odd at this stage in the breaking and healing process.

"Eww, Roxas, would you put that away? All that dead peeling skin is getting all over your pants, it's gross." Sora said, trying not to laugh, having seen and experienced a broken arm himself. Riku smirked as was his way, leaning forward slightly to get a better view of Roxas' paler-than-usual appendage.

Roxas smiled before sliding the splint back onto his fragile arm and velcroing it back together. "I can't help it, it feels so weird."

"Hmm. Looks weird too," Sora agreed, before grinning. "Hey, I got a call from Cloud while you were getting your cast taken off. He said he found you a, supposedly, competent body guard, and that he's waiting to get your approval when you got home."

"What is this, number five?" Riku cut in sarcastically.

"Number _eight_," Sora corrected.

"Either way, I doubt he'll last any longer than the others."

"Not _everyone _can be as amazing as you, Riku." The brunette's tone was meant to be mocking and sarcastic, but it only made Riku smirk with undisguised pride.

Roxas resisted the need to rolled his eyes, in favor of holding his left arm to his stomach as the car went around a corner, completely ignoring Sora and Riku's back-and-forth jibes, "Took him long enough; he said he'd have one by the time my arm healed."

"Well, technically your arm hasn't fully healed...it still has a couple weeks, so he actually found one on time." Sora pointed out, grinning impishly.

"I still doubt he'll last." Riku piped up, still smirking. Sora punched his arm, although since it was Sora, it didn't cause very much damage. It only made Riku's smirk widen as he tried not to laugh.

Roxas made a noncommittal noise before turning to stare out the window for the remainder of the car ride, wondering about what his new guard would be like and just how long this one would last.

* * *

"..xas…Roxas..!"

Said blonde blearily blinked himself into consciousness, only to see a near identical pair of cerulean eyes staring back at him.

"Roxas, get up! We're home."

Roxas continued to blink owlishly before his mind caught up and he unbuckled his seat-belt, quickly following Sora and Riku out the car and towards the door in the garage, which led straight into the house. As usual, Vincent seemed to disappear without a trace, not really ever around unless he was needed.

"I texted Cloud while you were asleep, as we were pulling into the driveway. He said he'd be waiting in his study for you," Sora nearly bounced with joy. "With your new bodyguard! I'm gonna go get out of my uniform, but I'll catch up with you later, mkay? You have to introduce me to whoever Cloud picked out. Oh, also Cloud said we're ordering pizza tonight, since he didn't feel like cooking anything, and Sephiroth will be coming late tonight. I wonder when they'll.." Sora's babbling went on and on, but honestly Roxas had begun tuning him out not long after he'd said "in his study"...in favor of rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Thankfully, before Sora could notice that the blonde hadn't been listening quite as intently as he'd hoped, Riku steered the brunette down another hall towards Sora's room, shooting Roxas his customary smirk, and a slight wave. Sora continued chattering away, not seeming to have noticed the lack of his brother.

Chuckling, Roxas skipped dropping off his own book bag and school blazer in his room, and made his way straight to Cloud's study, down the long halls and toward the stairs of their large home.

Their house was actually quite small, considering their wealth. Cloud had bought it shortly after he gained custody of his two younger brothers when they were ten, having downsized from their previous home (a mansion, courtesy of their fathers taste in expensive items), to a more modest choice. Quite a large house, yet not large enough to be considered a mansion or manor. It was definitely more humble compared to their last house. Roxas liked it better; it felt more like a home and less like a place with dozens of useless rooms.

The boy trailed his fingers along the wall as he went, walking past doors leading to, guest rooms, bathrooms, closets, the small library that wasn't exactly a library, the kitchen, the room Sora and Roxas had claimed as their game room, much to Cloud's annoyance. It had been his first study till the twins took it over.

The blond idly wondered if it would be warm enough to start swimming in the pool again, it was late May after all, school would be out soon…

Upon reaching the door to Cloud's "study" (really, it was just a room Cloud had claimed for work, but mostly he napped in it), Roxas knocked lightly. Not out of regard for his brother's privacy, mostly out of the manners that had been drilled into him when he was a small child. Not to mention numerous experiences he had of Cloud with closed doors that _should_ have been locked, but weren't.

"Come in." Cloud's voice was as gentle and monotone as ever.

"I'm home," Roxas replied, entering and making his way to his brother's desk. "Sora said you wanted to see me?" he perched his book-bag against the dark stained mahogany desk before plopping into one of the over-stuffed chairs across from his brother, staring sleepily into a face similar to his own.

"Yes, welcome home. Meet your new bodyguard." Cloud indicated to the chair directly next to Roxas.

Blinking in slight surprise (how he had not noticed someone else in the room was beyond him), Roxas turned his head to get an eye full of hair so red and spiked in such a way it nearly looked as if it were on fire, or perhaps simply _made_ of fire. Vaguely Roxas wondered how the redhead even got his hair to spike out like that. No way was it natural, yet he couldn't see any greasy residue from gel or other hair products.

That was just one of the few things that caught his immediate attention, however. The greener than green eyes stared out from beneath barely-there eye brows, accompanied by small black upside-down tear drop shaped tattoos on his cheek-bones. Even sitting the man was at least a head and a half taller than Roxas, not to mention the redhead was _slouched _in the damn chair; yet what he noticed most of all was just how young the man was. He couldn't have been a year or two older than Roxas.

Before Roxas could stop himself, he asked aloud, slightly confused: "Reno?" but no, even before the words had escaped his lips, he knew this man _wasn't_ Reno. Reno's eyes were blue, not green, the blond reminded himself. Not to mention they had different hair styles and facial tattoos. But at a glance one could easily make the mistake. If exhausted. Which Roxas was.

The young man next to Roxas released a boisterous laugh, while Cloud smirked.

"Naah, kid. The names Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" (1) The redhead smirked deviously, lounged on the chair like he'd sat in it a million times. Cloud continued to smile before speaking.

"Axel is Reno's younger cousin. He comes highly recommended by many. He graduated from high school last year, and he's just finished up his first year of college. We while I was visiting Reno at his late fathers dojo, you remember that place don't you Rox?" The younger of the two blonds nodded his head while an image of Reno instantly getting pinned comically by a much larger bald man popped into his head; it almost caused him to laugh out loud, just recalling.

Cloud nodded, "Well, Reno, Axel and I talked for a while about it before agreeing to hire Axel."

Curiosity struck Roxas in the form of several different questions, and before he could help himself the first popped out without warning.

"Isn't he a bit..young for a job like this?"

"Age is but a number, sweetheart. All it takes is skill." _'Because skill is so useful after you've been _shot_ point blank in the head…idiot.' _Roxas resisted the urge to roll his eyes for the second time that day, not even looking towards the redhead when he spoke. He could just_ feel_ the man smirking, and that smirk made him want to slap the redhead silly. He could tell already that he would no longer be sane by the time the over confident young man was in a body bag ready to be mourned by his family…which due to previous examples would probably be in the next few months. Maybe more, if luck favored the redhead.

Cloud could see through his brother's blank façade down to his true expression, (which mostly consisted of exasperation and annoyance) and quickly intervened before his brother said something rude. Cloud ignored Axel's comment and answered Roxas.

"Yes, that would usually be the case, but looking at past hired candidates, they were usually in between the ages of early thirties to early forties. And since you decided you want someone _better _than Riku," his brother motioned toward the one known as Axel, "it seemed only logical to find someone close to his age." Roxas mulled this over as Cloud continued.

"It will also make things easier when it comes to your schooling. Axel can be easily disguised as a student and watch over you during school hours, unlike your previous bodyguards. That always tended to be an issue." Roxas tried not to protest, it had been _one time_ he'd been tricked and kidnapped during school. ONE TIME. Yet Cloud thought it appropriate to hold it over his head the rest of his life.

"He'll be joining you in all your classes; I've already arranged things with your school. You'll be given the task of showing him around, after which you two will soon become close friends, that way it won't be as suspicious for him to be around you constantly. It will be better if the public doesn't realize straight away he's your new bodyguard. We seem to have trouble keeping your guardians alive, so few people will know his actual purpose, at least until summer starts." Cloud finished grimly.

Axel didn't seem fazed by the reference to past and no longer present bodyguards. Either the guy was an idiot (ok, Roxas had already clarified that), or he had a death wish, considering he was just sitting there idly tapping his fingers with a smile on his face. He was enjoying himself.

'_If he knew what was good for him he'd walk right out this door.' _The blonde went to glance over at the redhead sneakily…only to find bright green eyes already staring intently at him, a grin still plastered on the idiot's face. Roxas resisted the impulse to glare and settled for frowning at Axel before turning back to his brother.

"I made sure myself he was capable of protecting you. I assure you, Roxas, that he is more than fit for the job. So what do you think?" Cloud prompted, his voice low.

Roxas thought for a moment. "Is he really better than Riku?" his tone slightly disbelieving. It was damn near impossible to get one up on Riku in a fight. Hell, the boy had been raised by Sephiroth most of his life, so he was more than skilled when it came to combat, whether it involved weapons or hand-to-hand. It was one of the reasons no one ever messed with Sora, and instead often went for Roxas. Lack of a good protector provided easier hostage.

His brother smiled cryptically (although to anyone but family it probably looked like his lips twitched). "You'll have to decide that for yourself, but believe me when I say he's very good."

Axel, obviously tired of being ignored and talked about like he wasn't in the room, piped up. "Oh yes, _very _good. Like, the 'knock your socks off' kind of good. I did that to a guy once." The redhead winked, obviously trying to make a very, very lame joke. Which earned a blank stare from Roxas, who slowly turned back to Cloud.

"Fine." The word was a dramatic sigh, but his brother smiled softly despite the tone.

"Good. Well, you should go show Axel to his room. His things are already there, but I hadn't gotten around to showing him where it was yet. It's that same one as usual, the one connected to yours, I've already informed him of all his duties, and you'll both go to school for the following month or so till summer break. Axel, thank you for accepting the job, from now to the foreseeable future Roxas will be in your hands. I hope you do your job well." As Cloud spoke Roxas rose with his bag slung back over his shoulder, Axel getting up to shake Clouds hand, grinning like a Cheshire cat, before following Roxas to the door. "Oh, and before I forget to ask..anything specific you two would like on the pizza's?" Cloud already had his cell phone out, ready to dial.

"Same as always." Roxas called over his shoulder, Axel followed this with a shrug. "I don't really mind, I'll eat whatever arrives."

With a nod from Cloud, and goodbyes from the two teens, Axel closed the door and followed Roxas down the hall.

* * *

Roxas suddenly felt tired again. The nap in the car on the way home had hardly been satisfying. He glanced towards Axel, who was behind him by a few inches admiring the pictures and paintings scattered across the walls.

Roxas had been right about the guy's height. He was enormous. The redhead made Roxas feel like a small child. He had to look up..more so than usual if he wanted to look Axel in the face. It was unsettling and put him in a bit of a sour mood, being reminded of his short stature.

They were almost to the rooms when Axel spoke through the awkward silence.

"Sooo, uh, Roxie. Is there something you wanna ask me, or are you just enjoying the view?"

The blue eyed boy immediately stopped in his tracks as his jaw dropped. Axel stopped also, hands slipping into his dark jeans pockets as he tilted his head and smirked that poisonous smirk of his.

Had Roxas been staring? He honestly couldn't remember. How embarrassing. Apparently the guy had noticed all the glances from the corner of Roxas' eyes.

Quickly closing his mouth, Roxas frowned. Trying to think up a smart reply, he soon failed and settled for snapping: "Don't call me Roxie; I'm not a small dog." He then continued the last few steps to the joining rooms, albeit a bit more stomping involved than before.

Axel followed, snickering quietly to himself, staring at the back of the blond. "Ok, you're not a dog, but you gotta admit, you are pretty small…and cute like a small dog." Roxas felt his face flush (out of anger or embarrassment he couldn't tell; most likely both) and his hair ruffled by a large and incredibly warm hand.

Shoving the offending appendage away, he glared at the grinning teen while opening the door to his bedroom, half tempted to slam it in the redheads face. Even more tempted to ask him what the hell his problem was. Everything that came out of The Idiot's (he'd quite taken to calling him that) mouth seemed to cause his mood to become more foul. He didn't want this man trying to be his friend. He didn't want to get attached because he knew in some odd weeks this grinning fool would no longer be around. After the first three guards he had learned it was best to keep his distance from them, or risk being emotionally hurt. Don't make conversation unless it's necessary, don't ask personal questions, and _do not_ become friends.

Those were his three rules when it came to his bodyguards. This was a job, and Roxas wasn't there to make friends with every man or woman that walked through the door to protect him. It seemed heartless, but Roxas did it in order to keep sane. Becoming depressed after each death and blaming himself each time was not something he enjoyed. It was awful that anyone was willing to actually _die_ for him in the first place. To him, anyone who excepted the job was either an idiot, or insane. Most likely both.

He already knew that Axel was going to give him a hell of a time when it came to sticking to his three rules.

Throwing his bag onto his bed, along with his school jacket, he turned to Axel after pointing to a door next to a computer desk. "That," he began, "leads to your bedroom. It's there in case of emergency, to have easy access to me, and to keep an eye out to make sure I'm safe. It should be open most of the time, just as a precaution. If you're a light sleeper, you could probably sleep with it closed, but I suggest you leave it open. I doubt you'd want to deal with Cloud after I've been kidnapped and held for ransom." Roxas smirked, because he knew from experience it was not a pretty sight.

"Soo, this happens often then?" Axel gestured around the room before continuing as Roxas loosened his blue plaid tie, slipping it off and throwing it on the bed. "You know, the whole getting kidnapped thing, ransom, and all that jazz?"

Roxas snapped up from untying his shoes to frown into the other boys face. "What do you think my brother _hired_ you for?" Stalking over angrily he poked the taller teen in the chest, frowning up into emerald eyes. "Did you think that this job was some easy, baby-sitting gig?"

By this point, because of Roxas repeatedly poking so hard into the redhead's chest, Axel had begun backing up, yet trying not to seem like he was backing down. The blonde finally stopped once the other male had been successfully driven through the doorway and into the adjoining room that was now his.

Roxas' eyes narrowed as he grabbed the door. "If that's what you think, you are sadly mistaken. Even the slightest hesitation could get one, or both of us killed." He subconsciously grabbed his healing left arm, which didn't go unnoticed by Axel. "And I promise you," at this, the blonde's eyes smoldered like a deep angry storm. "If I get killed because of your stupidity, I _will_ haunt your ass for the rest of your miserable existence."

With that Roxas slammed the door in Axel's face and stormed over to his bed to finish changing into more comfortable clothes.

He was already beginning to feel a bit guilty for being so harsh, but it was the truth. What had his brother been thinking, hiring some teen who didn't even know what he'd gotten himself into? He'd have to talk to Cloud, and maybe he'd apologize for snapping at Axel too.

Although, considering the way the redhead was laughing on the other side of the door, Roxas decided to forgo the apology.

**TBC**

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Authors Notes: (1) I AM SO SORRYYYY, I HAD TOOOO. It wouldn't quite be Axel if he didn't say it at least _once _xD I know, every billion and one fanfic's that have Axel totally say it exactly like that, BUT I COULDN'T HELP ITTTT. It was too tempting~ x] I promise that's the only time he'll say it…maybe 8I hahaha.

And enter, Axeeeel :D Sadly, he didn't get to do much talking this chapter. But don't worry, he'll make up for it later :3 Uhhm, this chapter was a bit short as well, the plot is still developing so there wasn't very much talking except when it was to explain something, and for that I apologize…I promise (hope more like, lol) that it will get better.

Now, before you all ask, BECAUSE I KNOW YEW WILL, there is a point to Roxas being a mean little glaring bitch to Axel xD It might be kind of obvious to some, but to the rest of you who are confused just ask me and I'll try to explain the best I can without revealing the plot.

Review, because I have found out that the more reviews I get, the faster I poop out a new chapter. I'd planned on posting this a week after I'd released the first chapter..but that didn't work out too well, now did it? o_e;;


	3. Chapter Three: Accident Prone

Ok, first off, I'm sorry it took so long to update! It was a bad combination of being lazy, slight writers block, and being quite busy. I've been having trouble with the chapters on here, it seems after I went and edited the content in the second chapter, it squished a bunch of the words together and made it so it looked like a billion typos :/ So I had to fix that. Also, I suggest you go back and read chapter one and two, because I most likely added an important key-point, depending how long ago you first read them.

Also, please tell me if it does that weird scrunching the words together thing again.

Enough of that rambling, enjoy the third chapter! Also, due to a three to two vote, Cloud will be with Sephiroth, if you hadn't already guessed ;]

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**Chapter Three:** Accident Prone

Axel couldn't help chuckling after the door slammed in his face. Honestly, the kid had taken him by surprise getting all bitchy like that. The redhead had already knew most of the grisly details of why he'd been hired; he'd only been trying to make conversation to see if the boy would say more than two words to him. The kid was way too quiet for Axel's taste. He decided he was going to have to fix that.

Walking over to the large bed he spotted his giant duffel bag and decided now would be a good time as ever to unpack it.

Placing his clothing and miscellaneous items into the dresser and closet, he quickly ran out of things to unpack, much to his dismay. He didn't have much else to unpack at the moment besides his bathroom supplies. All of his other belongings that he planned to bring from his apartment were already packed in small boxes still waiting to be moved. Axel wasn't even sure whether he should still keep his apartment, or put big things like his furniture in storage while taking the rest of his junk to his new residence.

Pulling out his favorite Zippo lighter, he proceeded to flip the top on and off while looking around the room, debating his dilemma. "Whatever." He muttered, stuffing his lighter back in his pocket (he often pulled it out to play with it when he had something to think about). He'd keep his apartment the way it was. It wasn't like he wasn't being paid enough to keep _three_ of them at the same time; plus he wanted a place to crash on his days off. Not to mention he was too lazy to pack up his shit and put it into a storage unit.

Walking back to his bed, he grabbed his now-empty duffel bag and threw it into the bottom of the closet before looking around his new room with satisfaction. Making his way over to the bed with a soft sigh, he glanced at the digital clock before realizing he'd been unpacking for a little less than half an hour without hearing a peep from his new charge.

Frowning, Axel pulled himself from the horribly comfortable bed (seriously, it should be illegal for a bed to be that comfortable), and walked lazily over to the separating door to knock before calling out, "Hey, Roxie, you alive in there? Don't tell me I'm already failing at a job I haven't even been doing for an hour."

No answer. Well…_that_ couldn't be good.

Axel's frown deepened. For all of a split second he dabbled in the idea of whether he should bust in or not, but he knew it couldn't have taken the little blonde _that_ long to change from his school uniform. So without further ado, he opened the door, quickly glancing all over the spacious room, ready to take down any intruders.

Well, no immediate signs of anyone suspicious, everything seemed to be normal. Pulling himself out of his ready-to-attack position, his eyes focused in on the bed only to realize that Roxas was quietly passed out above the covers.

Heaving a quiet sigh, the tall teen walked leisurely over, shaking his head before stopping at the side of the bed next to Roxas, who was curled up like a small child.

Placing his hands on his bony hips, he took the opportunity to stare down at the small blonde teen. He silently marveled at how sweet and un-obnoxious the kid looked when his eyebrows _weren't_ so furrowed that they looked like they were trying to make friends with his chin. He watched as Roxas' chest rose and fell in sleep, debating whether or not to wake him up yet. Looking around, he spotted a computer chair with wheels and quietly rolled it over, deciding to give him ten more minutes of rest before he would wake him.

Axel tried to busy himself, honestly he did, but he found his eyes wandering back to the smaller teens sleeping form. Thick blonde locks framed the tanned face in a messy manner, spikes in more disarray that usual due to his sleeping form. He knew that those now-closed eyes were the most vibrant, but slightly cold, shade of blue he'd ever seen; he'd taken plenty of time earlier to scan the others appearance. By now he was just staring for fun and mostly out of fascination at the boys relaxed face. He really was a lot more approachable when he was asleep. Like a little puppy.

Axel grinned, thinking about the comments spoken from earlier, and the boys flushed face. '_Cute,' _was all that he'd been able to think, then and now; although, the kid's attitude made him not-so-cute. Axel would have to figure out that little problem and fix it. If he had to deal with a brat twenty-four/seven, he was going to have to go back on his contract to protect, and harm the blonde himself.

Looking at the time he quietly stood and pushed the chair back to where he'd found it, before walking back to the bed to shake Roxas' shoulder, not gently, but not rough enough to be considered rude.

"Roxie, kid, wake up!" Shaking until the boy groaned and rolled away from his touch, muttering something unintelligible. Axel frowned, sighing like it was the end of the world, before kneeling one leg onto the bed to reach the blonde and shake him again, only slightly rougher. "Get _up_, lazy, I want to eat!" all that earned was a surprisingly hard slap to the hand for someone who was _supposed_ to be asleep.

Grumbling and rubbing his offended limb, Axel stuck one of his index finger's into his mouth, muttering angrily, "Stupid kid..now you've done it." and without warning, he stuck his wet digit in the boy's defenseless ear. _'And here I was trying to wake him gently, but _nooo_…'_

Roxas' body immediately jumped from the bed, and away from Axel's hand; who at this point and time was grinning and trying not to laugh as the boy comically held his hand over his ear and tried to get the moisture out. "What the _fuck_ is _wrong_ with you!" he all but shrieked, still trying to get the shiver-inducing feeling out of his ear canal.

Axel shrugged, "You wouldn't get up, so I used every means necessary. 'Sides, I'm hungry, and I'm sure the pizza is here by now." Roxas glared, trying to calm himself down.

Giving up on ridding himself of the moisture, he flopped himself off his bed while muttering several profanities under his breath, and walked to grab the handle to his door…before it slammed right into his face, _hard._

"Rox! Pizza's here~!" Sora sing-songed as he bounced through the door, not even noticing straight away what he'd done…till he saw Roxas crouched on the floor, one hand on the doorknob for support, the other holding his now bleeding nose. "Rox..?"

"God _dammit_, Sora! Would you please watch what you're doing?" Roxas choked through the blood (although, it sounded more like "God _dambit _Zora! Would you blease wash whut door doobing?"). He quickly stood and stormed out the doorway past his twin, clutching his nose while making his way to the kitchen to find a towel, and Cloud.

"Roxas! I'm _so _sorry! Honest, I didn't mean to! I'm sorryyy!" The brunette called desperately; ready to go after his twin before he heard the sound of muffled laughter. Looking around he spotted a head of bright red, crazy spiked hair. With a gasp, he all but forgot about his brother and quickly made his way over to Axel. "You must be his new bodyguard! I'm his brother, Sora."

"I can see the resemblance. Name's Axel." Axel choked out between giggles as he held his stomach. And he really could; the boy in front of him looked almost exactly like Roxas, save for the different hair colors. Not to mention Sora's hair was styled and spiked differently. His eyes were a slightly deeper shade of blue, while his skin was also just a tone darker than the blonde's.

Sora frowned with a slight, guilty pout, "That wasn't funny, I really didn't mean to hurt him; it was an accident."

"I know-" Snicker. "I know. It's just..I didn't think," he repressed a snort and another wave of laughter, "that when I signed up for this job, that you would be on the list of people I'd need to protect him from. You know, being his brother and all."

Sora stared for a moment before laughing softly, scratching his head awkwardly. "Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better." The brunette looked over his shoulder and out the door as he spoke, once again sporting a guilty face, however a small smile on the edges of his expression.

Sobering up, Axel smiled, motioning to the doorway.

"Well, let's go find Princess Roxie before he becomes acquainted with another door." And with that they walked out of the room in search of Roxas.

* * *

"Well," Cloud concluded as he dabbed at his youngest brothers nose with a wet washcloth, "it's not broken, just bleeding a little bit. It should stop soon. Sorry." He added when Roxas flinched as he dabbed a particularly sore spot.

"It's okay..." the blonde whispered, trying not to shy away from Cloud's fingers.

Riku grinned around his second slice of pizza, leaning against the kitchen counter and staring at Roxas and Cloud, "So what happened?"

"_Sora _happened." Roxas replied bitterly. With Cloud tending to his nose though, it sounded like "_Dora _habbend."

"Ahh." Riku nodded in understanding, not evening having to know the details.

"Speak of the devil.." Cloud muttered softly, looking to the doorway as Sora and Axel walked in, the brunette quickly running over to his twin.

"Roxas, I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to…a-are you okay?"

Taking the bloodied rag away from Cloud with a quiet, "Thanks.", he looked over to Sora, who was fidgeting nervously, and dabbed at his nose which had all but stopped bleeding. "I'm fine Sora," a small hiss as he rubbed over another sensitive spot. "I know it was an accident. I'm sorry for yelling at you, it just hurt..and yeah." He finished lamely, looking at his brother awkwardly.

Sora visibly relaxed but not enough to stop looking guilty. "Ok…I'm still sorry. I promise to knock from now on instead of running in like that." Laughing and placing his hands behind his head. Roxas gave a slight grimace which was meant to be a smile before walking over to rinse the cloth in the sink.

As Sora and Cloud opened the many pizza boxes and dished them selves up (Riku grabbing his third piece from Sora's plate, which earned an indignant cry from the brunette.), Axel made his way over to Roxas, and grabbed the rag from him.

Roxas attempted to grab it back, but the taller teen held it out of his reach. "Hey! What are you-"

"Hush," the redhead interrupted softly, wiping the wet cloth around Roxas' face and neck. "You have blood all over you, I'm just cleaning it off for you..unless you want dried blood flaking off onto your pizza?" smirking when the Roxas stopped trying to fight him, and let himself be cleaned like a five year old. "Besides, I feel kind of bad that you already got hurt my first day on the job. Not like I could have stopped it from happening or anything. Your brother is like a tornado; unstoppable." He rambled quietly as he wiped. Axel acted as if he'd been doing this kind of thing for Roxas their whole lives; Roxas however was tense like a pillar and trying not to shy away from the unfamiliar touches.

"There, all done."

"Thanks…" Roxas muttered softly, drying his face and neck with his sleeves as Axel rinsed the rag.

"No problem, get me a plate, would you? I'm starving."

Roxas complied out of embarrassment, grabbing them each a plate off the counter before handing one to Axel and heading over to the food, looking for his pizza.

"What kind is there?"

The blonde jumped, not realizing the redhead had been quite so close behind him. "Uhhm. There's Hawaiian, a combination one, I think...a vegetarian pizza with no olives, and then my kind." Roxas read the labels on the side of the boxes. He couldn't explain why he felt so awkward as Axel stared intently at him. He tried not to shuffle back and forth.

"What does your pizza have on it?" the redhead asked, looking over Roxas' shoulder into one of the boxes.

"Tomato's, mushrooms, onion's, and chicken." Axel nodded and grabbed a slice from the two of the pizzas randomly, deciding he'd have one slice of each, before seating himself next to Sora at the island/counter/makeshift eating area in the middle of the kitchen.

"Rox, can you set some of your pizza aside for Sephiroth? And a slice of the combination if you don't mind." Cloud asked, as he poured himself a glass of water in front of the refrigerator. Taking a bite of one of his slices, Roxas nodded and placed his plate next to Axel's before setting to the task of saving Sephiroth some pizza before it all vanished.

Swallowing the last of his (Sora's) slice of pizza, Riku looked at Axel, a judging expression on his face. "So you're Roxas' new bodyguard?" the boy with silver hair frowned, "Aren't you a bit young?"

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed, elbowing his best friend in the ribs. A snort could be heard from Roxas as he put a plate of pizza in the fridge.

Axel smirked, pointing his pizza crust towards the silver-haired teen in front of him. "Aren't _you_ a bit young for this line of work?" Riku's eyes flashed.

"I've been doing this for about six or seven years." Riku stated, a tad smugly.

Axel nodded, impressed while munching his crust. "You must be pretty good then, to have started at such a young age." He held out his hand to the silver haired teen. "I'm Axel, memorize it." he added with a smirk as the other shook his hand, Riku also smirking and trading his own name.

"Cloud, do we have any pain meds?" Roxas sighed as he sat down, bringing a piece of his pizza to his mouth to take another bite.

"Yes. I'll get you some Ibuprofen once you've got something in your stomach. So eat." He commanded in his big-brotherly fashion. Arms crossed he took a bite of his own food, still leaning against the counter, watching the four teens in front of him chow down. Roxas nodded sleepily, which caused Sora to frown at him.

"Rox…? Are you ok? You seem like you're coming down with a cold or something."

Roxas shook his head, nibbling on his pizza crust. "Naah, I'm fine, just tired. I crammed a ton last night for that test and didn't get much sleep." Sora nodded in understanding, getting up to get another piece of pizza, seeing as Riku kept stealing his (this time going for vegetarian which he knew Riku wouldn't steal, unlike the combination he'd had).

"Good thing it's Friday."

Roxas nodded, getting up to take his plate to the sink to rinse it before putting it in the dishwasher.

Before he could even ask again, Cloud handed him two pills and a glass of water, instructing him to drink the whole glass after swallowing the medicine. "Roxas?" the blonde turned to Sora as he continued to chug the glass of liquid down. "Wanna play some video games or something?"

"Maybe...I'll probably just watch though. Too tired."

Sora nodded before turning to Axel, grinning. "What about you? Care to test your skills against the almighty Sora?" A snort came from Riku and Cloud at the same time.

Axel grinned as he walked to the sink to rinse his plate. "Yeah, sure if you think you got what it takes to beat me. I can be quite the couch potato when I want to be, so it's damn near impossible to defeat me at video games." the redhead stated proudly, while Roxas vaguely wondered if that was something to be proud of.

Not long after Cloud left to go work in his study (more like nap), while the other four made their way to the game room. Riku and Sora were in the lead, arguing playfully about something or other while Roxas and Axel trailed behind.

"How is your nose feeling?" Axel asked randomly as they neared their destined room.

"Fine." The blonde stated shortly.

"Uhh, good. That's good." _Awkwaaard_.

Walking through the door of the game room, Roxas quickly made friends with one of the two sofa's, leaning his head on the arm as he curled up to stare at the blank TV. Sora walked straight over to said TV before turning to Axel. "So what do you wanna play? We have plenty of multi-player games, most of them are racing. My favorite is _Mario Kart_." Sora sported a cocky grin as he spoke.

"Your house, you go ahead and choose."

"_Mario Kart_ it is!" The brunette stated gleefully.

"It's the only one he's good at." Riku muttered under his breath as he sat on the other couch, making Axel laugh.

"I heard that, Riku!" the silver haired teen laughed as he made himself comfortable.

Sora slid the disk into the _Wii _before handing Axel and Riku each a remote already hooked into the wheel meant for the game. Turning on the TV the brunette groaned at the sound of white noise as the screen danced like cracked out salt and pepper. "Dammit. I was sure I hooked the cords up right this time. _Rooox_, help meee." Sora whined and he kneeled in front of his sleepy brother, trying out his best kicked-puppy face. Which never worked with Roxas, but still, he tried.

Roxas shoved his hand forward into Sora face, pushing him back and away from him till he fell backwards onto his ass. "At least get out of my way so I can help, idiot." He grumbled, stepping over the smiling brunette, who happily crawled after him to the TV so he could watch Roxas work his magic, hoping to mimic it later when this happened again...which it always did.

Soon the peppy tones of _Wii _music filled the room as Sora cheered and Roxas grumped his way back to his spot. Much to his chagrin Axel had decided to sit next to him while he was gone.

Sitting next to Riku, Sora, being player one, zoomed through all the menu options, quickly picking Mario as his character. "Rooox, are you _sure _you don't want to play? You can play Peach like always~!" Sora cooed, snickering when Roxas glared at him.

"Shut up, I only use Peach on bikes if Dry Bone's hasn't been unlocked yet. Besides, I told you I'd probably only watch." He quickly settled back into his comfortable curled-up position, relaxing. That is until Axel started in on him too.

"Princess Peach, eh? Maybe I should start calling you that instead of Princess Roxie." Sharing an evil grin with Sora, who outright laughed.

Roxas opened his mouth to give a sharp reply before he was cut off by Riku, "Can we start playing yet? I'm getting bored." He drawled, having already chosen Toad as his racer.

Axel and Sora quickly relented, Roxas giving Riku a grateful look before settling back down. The redhead quickly selected his character before Sora continued on to pick their races. The next half hour was filled with cackles from Axel, cries of horror from Sora, and bursts of laughter from Riku as he and Axel tag-teamed up against Sora, constantly causing the teen's kart to malfunction. Be it with banana peels, or shells, they made Sora's _Mario Kart _life a living hell. By the time the four rounds were over Sora was in twelfth place while the other two took the gold and silver.

"Roxasss," Sora whined, sounding like he was going to break down crying any minute, "help me! Make them stop cheating..!"

Roxas couldn't help but smile into his arms, "They're not cheating, Sora. It's how you play the game. Although teaming up against him _is_ a bit unfair." He glared out from his cozy position at the two older boys who were feigning innocence.

"Roxaaassss." The blonde rolled his eyes at his brother's childish tone. "Help me, please?"

"Fine." He groaned, much similar to earlier that afternoon in Cloud's office. He knew if he didn't agree quickly, Sora would continue to pester him. Hauling himself up with a sigh, he walked over to the _Wii _stand to pull off the fourth controller and hook it up to a wheel while Sora went through the menu options for four players.

"Is it bikes, karts, or both?" Roxas asked as he sat back down in his spot, getting in a position fit for playing video games.

"Uhhm, bikes."

The blonde nodded, getting ready to select Dry Bone's when he noticed that the character was already taken by Axel. Looking over in slight surprise he saw the redhead was grinning at him cockily. He'd done it on _purpose_. Roxas frowned, gritting his teeth, trying not to comment as he selected Princess Peach, not at all surprised when Axel whistled, cat calling "Wooo, Princess _Roxie_, fight, fight, _fiiight_!"

"Shut up!" he snapped angrily in embarrassment as everyone else in the room laughed, "Just start the damn game already, Sora!"

Giggling the brunette did as he was told, selecting the first race from the _Special Cup_.

Roxas' face was set, watching the count down, revving Peach's bike a split second after the number two popped up, so he'd have a head start at the beginning of the race.

By the time the first race was over Roxas was in first place, having bumped his brother up into third, while Riku and Axel were in places six and ten. Axel was shocked, not having expected a taste of his own medicine quite so harshly, while Riku just sighed, having experienced this before. Roxas was good at racing games in the first place, but once you actually gave him a reason to win, he was unstoppable.

Sora whooped, throwing his hands in the air before moving on to select the next round. Axel was still gaping at the screen, before he snapped out of it. "Oh it is _on._" Grinning, he got ready for the next race.

Roxas glared over before also readying himself.

Ok, if the redhead wanted his ass handed to him once again, who was Roxas to say no?

* * *

Two hours later Riku and Axel admitted defeat, finally having enough of losing constantly. Sora smiled sleepily, leaning against Riku's shoulder in a happy daze from winning so many times. "Thanks Rox." He chuckled.

"No problem." The blonde stated, getting up to grab all the _Wii_ remotes before taking them out of the wheels to attach them to the charger.

"Well," Riku began, rising up from the couch ("HEY!" Sora cried as he fell over, having been leaning on him) to stretch, "I'm off to bed, Kairi wants to hang out with Sora and I tomorrow, so we've got to get up at a reasonable hour. You joining us?"

"Naah, too much homework. Plus, I don't feel much up to it." Roxas shook his head while he leaned down to turn off the TV manually.

Riku nodded before looking back at Sora who had nudged his thigh. "Give me a piggy back ride as punishment for losing." The brunette grinned from his sideways position on the couch, poking Riku's leg once again.

A silver eyebrow rose. "Oh yeah? And just when did I agree to become your slave?" his hands were now on his hips as he smirked down at Sora. "When you became my bodyguard. And because your my best friend _before_ my bodyguard and you love me~!" The younger boy said all too innocently. Rolling his eyes, Riku turned around, presenting his back to his "best friend".

"Get on before I change my mind, you brat."

"Sweet!" Sora exclaimed, not having expected Riku to actually relent to his whims. He hopped on before waving his goodnight to Axel and Roxas.

Riku grunted out something that sounded suspiciously like, "You are the laziest person I know, Sora. Can't even walk to your own damn room." before the two disappeared out the door.

Standing awkwardly in the room alone with Axel was slightly unnerving. He didn't know what to say to this man who he'd known a few hours, but was somehow supposed to entrust his life with.

Before he could open his mouth however, the other stood, hands slipping into his jeans pockets. "Well, we should probably get you to bed; you look like you're about to crash."

And as Axel said the words, Roxas suddenly felt how tired he really was. Without arguing he nodded slowly and made his way to the door. Quietly they walked down the halls to their rooms. As he passed the door to the kitchen he heard voices behind it and recognized them as the voices of Cloud and Sephiroth.

He decided to make a small side trip, and opened the doorway to the kitchen and peeped in, spotting the two men next to the microwave. "Hey."

Axel followed Roxas into the kitchen, not even questioning what the boy was doing.

Both of the men looked up at Roxas' voice, "Something wrong, Roxas?" Cloud asked softly, eyebrows furrowing in a thoughtful manner. "Do you need more Ibuprofen?"

"No, just came to say goodnight and grab a glass of water before I went to bed." The older blonde's face relaxed as he nodded his head.

Roxas walked to one of the cupboards and grabbed two glasses, Axel sitting down at the island in the middle of the kitchen, staring at the silver haired man he had yet to meet, who happened to be staring at the redhead in turn. _'This must be Sephiroth.' _He decided as a glass filled with water was placed in front of him, muttering his thanks to the smaller blonde. He'd heard a lot about the two ridiculously wealthy businessmen in front of him, especially after the media had found out about the men's personal relationship together.

After all, it wasn't often two male CEO's from different companies indulged in an office romance.

Drinking from his glass till it was empty, Axel placed it in the sink before walking over to Cloud and Sephiroth (who set down his slice of pizza upon the redheads approach), holding his hand out. "I'm Axel, Roxas' new bodyguard. It's a pleasure to meet you." The man with silver hair that reached past his rear, and piercing aqua eyes shook the redheads hand firmly while nodding his head.

"Likewise. Cloud was just telling me about you as you two came in. We both appreciate your willingness to take the job. Not very many men or women seem to be brave enough these days." Sephiroth smirked, even as Cloud frowned at him, and Roxas rolled his eyes, finishing his glass of water before walking over to the others.

"Yes, yes, I know, I'm cursed. Haha, funny. I'm going to bed now, night Cloud," Roxas resisted the strong urge to stick his tongue out at Sephiroth, because knowing him, the man would grab his tongue and hold it till Roxas could say "uncle" with perfect pronunciation. "Goodnight Sephiroth. Axel, you coming?"

Axel feigned innocence while walking towards the doorway leading to the hall, "Why Roxie, I hadn't realized we were like that."

The blonde sputtered as he flushed, his older brother gaping at such an openly crude comment, while Sephiroth smirked at the flustered blonde's.

"You-! I don't-can't even..ugh!" Was all an embarrassed Roxas could mange as he stomped ahead of a laughing Axel. _'I can't _believe_ he said that in front of my brother!'_

"You're such a pervert!" He continued to fume down the hall, once again wanting to throttle his bodyguard. It was insane how quickly this man could change his mood. The night had been going pretty well in Roxas' opinion till _that_ little scene had occurred.

"Oh come on, Roxie, it was a joke!"

Roxas ignored him as they walked through the door way and into the blonde's room. "Whatever, stop calling me Roxie. I'm going to bed." His blush was finally beginning to die down. He was thankful he was already in a t-shirt and sweats; he was exhausted and didn't feel like changing.

Axel chuckled and walked over and into his own room, leaving the separating door open, not bothering to turn his light on as he walked to his closet to change into a pair of pajama pants, not feeling a need to put a shirt on; he'd be warm enough. Walking over to his new (deliciously comfortable) bed, he quickly settled in as the light from Roxas room went off.

All was quiet for a time, and both boys had nearly drifted to sleep before a thought crossed Axel's mind, and he couldn't help but voice it aloud.

"Nighty-night Princess Roxie~!" Axel cooed, snickering when he received a frustrated and tired groan in reply.

A soft "flop" could be heard in the darkness as Roxas threw one of his extra pillows in the vague direction of the doorway leading to Axel's room.

_That'll_ teach him.

**TBC**

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Nooo, I don't own _Wii_, or _Mario Kart_, so just don't even. Also, yeah, I'm sure I could have chosen a game better than Mario Kart, but I'm lazy and it's the only one I could think of for more than one player xD

Also, can I just state now how much I hate this chapter? D: even more than the last one. I had to _FORCE _myself to write this, it was painful the whole time and I did not enjoy it. I honestly will not blame you if you didn't enjoy it either xD it's just so...ugh o-o;;;

Don't forget to review~. I got less reviews last chapter, and more favorites/watches than ever and that's probably what contributed to this chapter taking so long to come out. So review please, good or bad. I eat that shit up. :]

**ALSO BEFORE I GO**, I know people are still really curious why they need bodyguards, but please be patient, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours in the story since Axel showed up xD But you'll find out either in the next chapter, or the one after that, I PROMISE~


	4. Chapter Four: Friend or Foe

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. At first it was because I was busy, and because of my Akuroku Day one-shot..but then I got writer's block, and uhm yeah o.o; Also, thanks for all the favs and reviews on my oneshot!

For serious, I was surprised by how many people liked the lemon in it, when I was exhausted and cracked our on like **eighty cups of coffee **while writing it xD If you think THAT one was good…wait till you read the one that will come up later in _With My Life_, it's going to be much more realistic :P. The lemon in _I Think You Might Be Gay_ was meant to be kind of funny and smutty; nothing special. Although, I do have a funny sequel one-shot idea perfect for that fic…so when I have time, I'll probably work on that.

Anyways, I had a ton of trouble with this chapter, I hated how it started, and that was another reason it has taken so long. Eventually I got a funny idea out of nowhere that I liked much better…and it started while I was eating a string-cheese stick…ENJOY!

ALSO, YAY FOR TIME-SKIPS. Haaaa, you know you love me.

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**Chapter Four:** Friend or Foe

"Uhhm, Sora? What the _hell_ is your brother doing?"

Said brunette looked up from his hand-held game system at Axel's words to glance at his twin.

Roxas was currently consuming a stick of string cheese. He was shredding it slowly, bit by bit, and eating it. However, it was _how_ he was shredding it that had brought on the question from the enamored redhead. The boy was pulling it apart in the tiniest strings he could possibly manage (which was about the size of sewing thread) with the most thoughtful expression on his face.

Axel was baffled.

Sora laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Cloud says it's some weird stress reliever thing he does when he's worried about something," Sora informed, going back to playing his video games while lying on one of the couches in their game room. "Probably because our last final is tomorrow." He added absently. Indeed it was. Today was Wednesday, and the last day of school was on Friday. So, finals had been squished into the last week of school.

"I see…"

Axel turned back to staring at the blonde who seemed oblivious to the conversation concerning him. It was like Roxas was trying to drill a hole into that poor mozzarella stick with his mind. A sudden thought struck Axel.

"Say..how long does it take him to _eat _one of those things when he's doing that?"

Sora looked up again with another laugh.

"Well, he'll do _that_ for about half and hour before his stomach gets impatient and he starts peeling bigger chunks till the rest of it's gone."

One of Axel's almost non-existent eyebrows quirked. It took him about two minutes to eat a cheese stick, and that was when he was eating it slowly…he couldn't imagine wasting a half of an hour on one.

His new charge was fucking _weird_. That was the conclusion he'd come to in the three and a half weeks since he'd met the moody blonde.

Little did he know, the reason for the blonde's odd cheese-stick behavior was _his fault_.

**

* * *

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Roxas was having trouble focusing on his current surroundings. (1) He found himself becoming more and more irritable and snippety as of late.

The only reason he could conclude for this was Axel.

_Axel._

The man…was a conundrum. The fiery redhead had rolled into his life like a flurry of dancing flames, and it didn't seem like those flames would be put out anytime soon. No matter how rude Roxas was, or how much he hinted he did not wish to be friends.

The first day of school with Axel had been…eventful to say the least. He'd shown the other around the school, as instructed, went to classes together, and introduced him to his friends during lunch; the whole while trying his best to ignore perverted or obnoxious comments from the taller man.

He had eventually found himself getting into small arguments with the redhead every chance he got. It didn't help that _all_ of his friends had accepted Axel into their group like they'd all known each other their whole lives. It made it that much harder not to get along with Axel when even _Hayner_ of all people had clicked personalities with the freakishly tall teen.

Pence and Olette liking Axel was a given; they tended to get along with just about anybody. Since Riku and Sora had already met him, those two didn't exactly count.

Naminé had been wary at first, but with a few smooth words and suggestive eyebrow movements from Axel, she was asking Roxas why he had such a problem with the lanky redhead. Much to Roxas' chagrin.

Last but not least was Kairi…who seemed _quite_ surprised to see her cousin who was supposed to be in _college_ back in high school. Her brother, Reno, having failed in informing her of the situation, which meant Roxas had to spill the beans and explain what was going on.

Roxas attacked his cheese with new enthusiasm.

Axel's first day of school with him, and already they'd failed Cloud by having to tell Roxas' friends that the fiery redhead was his new guardian. There went Cloud's plan of keeping Axel's true objective a secret until at least summer. Then again, only his friends knew, so hopefully it would be alright. For now.

After that first eventful day, life had resumed…in an oddly peaceful manner. If you didn't count the daily, almost hourly, arguments Axel inspired in Roxas.

The crimson haired, perverted man knew just how to press Roxas' delicate buttons.

Everyone seemed to like Axel.

Everyone but Roxas.

And everyone saw the need to ask Roxas _why_ he didn't like Axel. It wasn't like he could simply _explain_ his Three Rules to everyone who asked. Even Sora didn't know about those; although the brunette, being as close as he was to Roxas due to genetics, could give a pretty accurate guess as to why his twin turned into a hissing, spitting cat whenever Axel entered the room. (He may have a sweet and naive disposition, but he wasn't _stupid_.)

Which was _all the time_ considering Axel had to practically be attached to Roxas' hip. As was the duty of being a live-in guardian.

It didn't help that he had caught himself more than a few times almost smiling, or laughing at the redhead's antics. Wanting to be Axel's friend, to make jokes, wanting to open up to the taller teen like he had with people such as Hayner or Naminé. Roxas was pretty sure if they'd met under different circumstances they could have been the closest of friends.

'_Well…maybe not.'_ He thought with a sour expression. Axel could be pretty damn obnoxious…so maybe if he was less obnoxious, toned down on the dirty jokes that implied him and Axel in bed together around his eldest brother, and had _then_ they had met under different circumstances, maybe then they could have been friends.

Maybe.

But alas, they couldn't have more than a business-like relationship. Roxas couldn't stand to get attached, comfortable even, only to have someone ripped from his grasp. It was so painful the first time. He hadn't even been ten.

That had been back when his father was still alive; Cloud had just finished his junior year of high school. The bodyguard at the time wasn't there constantly; he was only around when Roxas appeared publicly with his father and brothers, not acting as a live in guardian like Axel and previous bodyguards.

Roxas' expression furrowed with intensity as he shredded the dairy product between his fingers to bits with renewed interest.

Roxas remembered the gunshot intended for him or his brothers; all having seemed to mysteriously miss their father. The harsh grunt as the bodyguard allowed the bullets to embed them selves into his chest. Roxas had been traumatized for months after. He hadn't understood anything at the time, and watching someone who was around him on a somewhat regular basis _die_ in front of his eyes, for his benefit—

It had been too much. He'd undergone so much therapy as a child due to it. He still became angry with his father when he thought about it. It had been his father's responsibility, why had he taken his _children_ to _his_ public apology for what he'd—

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, willing those thoughts to go away. He needed to focus back on his current problems.

Axel.

Axel was his current problem.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice his 'current problem' leisurely sneaking his way towards him.

That is until his nearly half eaten cheese-stick was nimbly picked from his fingers.

Furious blue eyes snapped up to glare into mocking green, "What the hell, Axel?"

A harsh staring match ensued, about ninety percent of it coming from Roxas' end.

Standing from his seat on one of the couches, Roxas went to grab back his snack, only for Axel to hold it out of his reach. Damn his height disadvantage.

"Sora's been trying to get your attention for a while now." And with that, Axel stuffed the remaining amount of cheese into his mouth and walked over to sit on the couch next to Sora, as if nothing had happened.

Roxas' jaw dropped angrily, and he probably would have started ranting and raving if Sora hadn't cleared his throat loudly, and with meaning. He was seriously starting to get rid of his brother's Miss Bitch attitude.

Holding up his phone, the brunette spoke once he had his twins attention, "Pence is throwing a party this Friday night, to celebrate school getting out. He wants to know if you and Axel plan on going."

At that moment Riku walked into the room, bringing glasses of water with him. "Will there be alcohol there?"

Sora looked over to his best friend, accepting one of the glasses of water from the silver haired teen while he spoke.

"I'm pretty sure..?"

"Then we're not going."

Blunt, and to the point.

Sora whined, "Aww, _Riku_! Why not?"

"Because," he began shortly, joining Sora on the couch, "I don't want a repeat of last time."

"But Riku! That was _one time_; I promise I won't drink so much again!"

The silverette shook his head, refusing to answer the begging teen.

"What happened last time?" Axel asked curiously, looking towards his blonde ward for answers. Roxas only narrowed his eyes, and locked his jaw, refusing to enlighten the obnoxious redhead. Obviously Axel had forgotten he'd just invaded his personally bubble of comfort _and_ had eaten his snack.

"He got extremely drunk a couple months ago, and it didn't end well." Riku supplied to the slightly exasperated redhead.

That caught Axel's interest, grinning, he asked what happened to make it so bad.

"Well, let's just say Sora is a _really_ angry, violent drunk," Riku fixed the sheepish looking brunette with a meaningful and aggravated look.

"I've _told_ you I'm _sorry_. But you really should have listened when I told you not to take away my drink!"

"That wasn't even what you were angry about!" Spoke up Roxas, tired of playing the stubborn mute.

"What was he angry about?"

"I don't even know, he kept getting angry over random things, he didn't make any sense at all. Not to mention the drink he's talking about was an empty _vase_. He even got so angry he beat Riku up—_Riku_— when he tried to get him in the car to leave. Almost broke his nose."

"Hey," the silver haired boy began defensively, "I wasn't going to hit him back."

"That's because you _love me _and cherish our beautiful friendship." Sora said smugly, grinning an idiot.

Riku in turn shoved Sora's face into the sofa, and held the flailing brunette there, not caring at the moment if he accidentally smothered his best friend. "I suppose we can go. I'll just have to put Sora on a leash so he doesn't go crazy again."

"Why Riku, I didn't know you were into those kinds of things." Axel mocked in a scandalized tone.

Said male flushed with shock and embarrassment, smooshing Sora's face into the cushions further when the small brunette snorted out muffled giggles. It seemed even Riku was susceptible to becoming victim to Axel's perverted remarks.

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Later into the evening Axel found himself making his way to Cloud's study, upon the older blonde mans request. He was slightly apprehensive; Cloud had never called him into his office-like room before, alone. He almost felt like a student being called into the principal's office.

Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the large impending door with an almost guilty expression on his face. He knocked meekly.

Words granting entrance were made, and Axel turned the doorknob and walked towards his employer's desk.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

Cloud nodded, already seated behind his desk, and motioned for the redhead to sit.

Straight to business then—

"I want you to get Roxas drunk."

For a moment…Axel's mind stopped working, and then it caught up with the short lived conversation, and he choked out a disbelieving laugh, "_Exsqueeze me_?" (2)

Cloud gave a heavy sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if he were trying to make a blind man pick a red marble out of a hundred blue ones.

"Let me rephrase that. I want you to get Roxas drunk; so drunk, that he'll never be curious about drinking again."

Tiny crimson eye brows furrowed. "I don't—Why? Has he not gotten drunk before?" for crying out loud, he knew the small teen was a bit up tight, but not so uptight that he'd never been intoxicated before.

"Not to the extent of inebriation. I've allowed him and Sora to go to parties where I knew there was going to be alcohol, because—believe it or not, I trust them to do the right thing. And if that is drinking until they get alcohol poisoning, so be it. It's their doing."

"So…why do I have to get Roxas drunk?" '_Especially since you expect them to "Do the right thing"?_'

The blonde employer rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and he tried to form his words the way he wanted them to come out.

"A few months ago, Sora, Riku, and Roxas went to a house party. Roxas had never been interested in drinking, to my knowledge, that is, until Sora got drunk to the point of violence. Since then he has taken a sort of morbid curiosity towards it. I've resisted allowing them to go to any parties recently with the excuse of Sora's last escapades, but I can't deny them this one, since it's the end of the school year." The twins had approached their older brother earlier in the evening to ask permission. Somewhere in the back of Axel's mind, he recorded this moment as the first time he'd heard Cloud speak so much since the time they'd drawn up Axel's contract.

Cloud suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"I realize this is a lot to ask of you, it was Sephiroth's idea, I should have just told them no—"

Axel shook his head, letting his thoughts process as he grinned disbelievingly. "So you just want me to get him drunk off his rocker, so that he'll never touch the stuff again, right?"

A small nod followed by an awkward yet hopeful expression.

The redheads grin broadened.

"All right, I'll do it. But I can't be held responsible if he never speaks to either of us again."

Cloud blinked before giving a sharp relieved laugh; which rewarded him with a startled look from the tattooed male across from him.

"Deal. Just please, _do not_ let him drive, or allow him to leave with anyone but you. Also, I'd rather you not drive if you decide to drink too. I'll give you enough money for a taxi if need be."

Seeing such a fierce expression on such a pretty face, right after it had been laughing unashamedly, was quite a shock to Axel's system, and he sobered up immediately. "Yes sir."

The spiky haired blonde CEO smiled just barely before giving a nod and dismissing his newest employee, wondering if this whole thing was even a good idea.

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Thursday (and its finals) came and went, along with the last day of school the next day, and before anyone could hope to stop it, the hour of Pence's house party arrived.

Outside the ridiculously large thrumming house, four teens got out of their car and made their way to the door. Three out of the four proceeded in a calm fashion, save for Sora, who practically vaulted himself into the door before knocking noisily.

Axel chuckled as Riku reprimanded his childish friend; Roxas completely ignored his twin's antics, he was all too used to them. Who ever had been closest to the door answered it.

"Naminé~!" Sora cried excitedly before launching himself into the house to give her a quick hug before leaping away to go make a trip around the house to say hello. Riku gave Naminé a polite greeting before leisurely following his best friend, stopping to talk to a few people on his own, along the way.

"Oh, _Naminé_, aren't you just looking particularly jail-bait-esque this evening?" Roxas had to resist the almost threatening urge to roll his eyes. There went Axel with his uncontrollable flirting. The honey blonde almost walked away when he heard Naminé's tinkling laugh, not looking to see the way she smoothed imaginary wrinkles from her immaculate white dress, also ignoring her reply. His eyes trailed around in a bored manner, spotting a few people he knew, and many he'd only seen at school. One person in particular caught his eye and he couldn't help but grin. _'Oh God, he looks so out of place.'_

Parting from the chatting pair with such sweet relief, he walked over to a steel-blue haired boy who looked absolutely uncomfortable with his current situation.

"Zexion, what in the world are you doing _here_? This isn't really your scene." Damn, if Roxas had to raise his voice like this over the music all night, he'd lose his ability to speak before midnight.

One light blue eye snapped in Roxas' direction, as the other was covered by a long bang, but Roxas assumed both eyes went to look at him. Zexion relaxed ever so slightly and almost smiled. "Honestly? I don't even know. A few days ago Kairi and Naminé accosted me and wouldn't let me go until I agreed I'd come…now I'm sort of…" he looked around, once more becoming awkward.

The blonde grinned, "...Hiding?" The bookwormish boy most likely didn't notice it, but he was quite handsome, and it brought the somber and reserved teen a lot of unwanted attention. It didn't help that he was so socially awkward it hurt.

Zexion might have laughed, if he hadn't felt so out of place. He usually only went to parties or clubs where not a soul knew who he was, but here, plenty of people knew his face from school and it made it hard for him to relax and enjoy himself fully.

Noticing his friend's discomfort, Roxas beckoned the slate haired boy in the direction of the kitchen where they would hopefully find refreshments. The shorter teen eagerly followed.

It took some time, but they eventually managed to make it into the barely occupied kitchen. Roxas gave a happy sigh of relief. The music wasn't as boisterous in this room, and he didn't have to scream, or ask "WHAT?" when someone spoke.

"Having fun?" Roxas asked playfully as he got himself and Zexion a soda. But upon handing the other boy his drink, he had his own snatched from his fingers. Turning his good mood immediately was shot down as he stared into the greenest of green eyes framed by fiery hair.

"Ugh..what do _you_ want?"

A Cheshire grin: "Now, that's no way to speak to someone, now is it, Roxie?"

Said smaller boy ignored him and tried to grab his soda back, having a slight sense of déjà vu.

"Ah-ah," Axel shook his head, holding the carbonated drink out of his reach, "Drink this instead."

A full shot glass was thrust into thin, tan fingers.

"What is this? I don't want this; give me back my soda!"

One of Axel's tiny red eye brows shot up. "Jeez, loosen up Roxie. It's a party. Drink up, have fun, get that giant _log_ out of your ass. You only live once."

Roxas expression soured, and he look like he was about to throw the contents of the small shot glass into Axel's face, until the redhead's expression changed and he spoke once again.

"Unless," ohhh, that leering smirk did not bode well, "you've never _drank_ before." Honestly, he wasn't sure childishly egging the blonde on, and practically calling him a 'chicken' would work, but Cloud wanted the boy to have a nice dose of pain, and he couldn't think of any other way to convince Roxas' stubborn personality.

Roxas looked taken aback for a moment, "I have too drunk before!"(3) '_Just not to the point of actual drunkenness…'_ he added as an afterthought. He was slightly apprehensive of ever going further than a single beer after seeing Sora crazy drunk. But that also caused his curiosity spike, and he'd been waiting for this kind of opportunity for a while now.

So why waste it?

Before he could convince himself not to, Roxas tipped back the shot of clear liquid and swallowed.

And then choked, which was followed by laughter coming from Axel. "Here, chase it with this, Princess."

Without questions, Roxas grabbed back the soda Axel had stolen earlier and took a large chug. "That was _awful_, what was that?"

"Vodka." Came the smug reply.

'_It's worse than tequila._' It was at this point Roxas decided he did not like liquor (he'd thought maybe it had just been the tequila and gin he'd tried in the past, but this was proving that he so far didn't like any of the hard liquors). Axel went back over to the counter where there were several bottles of amber and clear liquids. Refilling the shot glass he brought it back over to the pinch-faced blonde who was complaining to a blank faced, emo-haired boy that Axel vaguely knew as Zexion. He'd seen Roxas chatting, and hanging out with him several times over the last few weeks.

Roxas shook his head vehemently upon seeing the small glass, "_No_."

Axel rolled sharp green eyes over black tattoos, "Rox, just drink it and then I'll make you something _nice_."

He showed slight reluctance until Zexion spoke, bringing the attention of both the other boys in the large kitchen. "I'll take you shot for shot."

Surprise colored Roxas' face as Zexion swiftly grabbed the full shot from Axel and swallowed it, grimacing slightly before taking a few gulps from his own soda. Smirking and almost laughing at Roxas' slow blinking. "What?"

"I didn't know you drank."

"I do on occasion...I'm not all books and no fun, you know."

"I know _that_, I just don't think I've ever witnessed it.." and suddenly Roxas was smiling, and for a moment Axel was too absorbed in the expression to speak.

"Errm…well, great." the now grinning redhead walked back over to the counter to refill one shot glass, and grab another. "Now you have a drinking buddy, which will make this more fun, since I can't drink with you. I have to be the designated sober person, you know." He finished in a mock proud voice.

"Uh-huh." Roxas replied, eyes narrowing in suspicion as Axel directed him how to accurately drink a shot and chase it, so that it was less of a horrible experience. Some how that look on Axel's face looked only _too_ innocent.

Curiosity really did kill the cat, and Roxas should have known better than to trust that Cheshire grin.

**TBC**

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**A/N: **(1) ME, RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, WHILE TYPING THIS, BECAUSE I'M WATCHING A DISNEY MOVIE…totally don't have the mentality of a five year old, honest.

(2) I've been saying this a lot lately, and it seems like something idiotic that Axel would say xD

(3) No, not "drank", drunk is _proper_ grammar, sweethearts.

Sorry, once again for this chapter taking forever to get out. Also, I'm going to be a greedy bastard, so I'm going to release the next chapter once I get ten reviews (you already have a headstart, since there's two reviews from when chapter four was an A/N xD) YEAH :o I'm tired of all the watches and favorites, but hardly any reviews. I want to know what people think, **WHAT THEY LIKE AND DISLIKE**. AND, I'm not weird for watching children's movies…my cat was doing it too D: For serious, my cat loves TV. SO GO REVIEW FOR ME AND MY TV-WATCHING-KITTY.

Short chapter is short, but once I get the urge (more like ten reviews, ha), I will post the next chapter. I already have it written up, so it all depends on you guys clicking that little button below~ Hate a lot about this chapter, but ehhh. It's the best I could do with my writer's block.

**!ALSO NEXT CHAPTER WILL REVEAL WHY THE STRIFE FAMILY NEED BODYGUARDS!**...did I mention Roxas&Sora's last name is Strife, like Cloud's…?...WELL NOW YOU KNOW. Love you. :}


	5. Chapter Five: The Curious Cat

Wow, already to chapter five. Thank you everyone for all the wonderful reviews and even to the reader who sent me an opinionated message! :} I love hearing people's views; good or bad. You guys keep me going! This chapter is pretty long, I hope you enjoy it.

Also, **happy news**! My cat (not the one mentioned last chapter) had kittens the day I posted chapter four! Excitement! Haha. Giving birth on Labor Day; how ironic. (yes, I know Labor Day has nothing to do with the pregnant kind of labor, I'm just being silly)

Roozu Doll's review reminded me of how retarded it seemed for Cloud to ask Axel to get Roxas drunk. That part always bothered me, and I'm sure if I took more time I could have written that part better and made it seem more believable xD Ahhh, well. A lot of this story is going to make you go…"wtf is this author thinking?" ;]

Although, what Cloud did to Roxas, was actually done to me…so it should be believable D:

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**Chapter Five:** The Curious Cat

Axel couldn't help but laugh as Roxas teetered his way to the bathroom for what must have been the twentieth time that night. It was just a little past one in the morning, and a handful of people had begun to leave; including a surprisingly un-intoxicated Zexion. The small mousy (yet snarky) boy had a tolerance for alcohol like Axel had never seen, but that didn't mean he didn't get a sober person to drive Zexion home.

'_Roxas on the other hand…' _his thoughts trailed off with a snicker as he leaned against the wall next to the entrance to the bathroom. Roxas' tolerance had started out well at the beginning of the night, but had quickly revealed it self to be somewhat low. All things considered, it wasn't too bad. Roxas thankfully hadn't thrown up yet, or done anything _too_ stupid.

That did _not_ include when Roxas had told a bouquet of roses it smelled pretty, thinking it was Axel in his drunken haze.

_That_ had been so funny, Axel had almost peed himself. Roxas would later remember that moment as one of the most shameful in his life.

"Axel!"

Craaap. Why did the blonde have to make that desperate, whiny, panicked voice while he was in the bathroom? Axel didn't want to have to go in there.

"Yeah, Roxie?"

"…I can't open the door…" came the meek reply.

The spiky haired redhead had to hold in his snickers as he turned the door knob and opened it, peeking inside. "Uhhm, Rox?"

The small teen turned, panic and hope evident on his face, "You probably can't open the door, because _that's not the door_." What Roxas had in fact mistaken for the exit, was indeed a locked linen closet. Locked from the outside, mind you, didn't need a key or anything, you only had to unhook a latch.

"Oh."

This time Axel couldn't hold back his laughter as he shook his head and led a confused Roxas out of the bathroom. "Alright, I seriously think it's time to get you home."

"But I don' waaanna." If Axel didn't know the boy was astoundingly drunk, he probably would have been flabbergasted at hearing the whining childish tone coming from his usually pissy, stoic ward.

Deciding it best to ignore Roxas' previous comment, he led the teen through halls and rooms still filled with plenty of people dancing or chatting.

"We have to find your brother and Riku."

Just as the words came out of his mouth, he spotted the two boys in question on the couch talking with a deep redheaded girl who he recognized as his cousin.

Waving the hand that wasn't supporting Roxas in greeting, he steadied said swaying boy and made it the rest of the way across the room. Axel was hell bent on keeping his smashed Responsibility on his feet, but Roxas seemed to have other plans when he spotted his brother. Crying out his twin's name, he launched himself over only to sprawl across all three friends on the couch.

"I would have asked what brought you over," Riku began, grinning, "but I can see why you're here."

Axel smirked in return, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, well, Cloud told me to do it. Now I just gotta get him home, so I kind of need the keys. Are you going to come with us, or…?"

The silver haired male shook his head, trying to shove off the weight of both of the twins who had decided to lean on him for support, while Kairi giggled and chatted with the brothers.

"Nah, we'll probably just hitch a ride with Kai, or stay here for the night. Sora's kind of smashed, and I've had a few drinks. Kairi is sober though, so yeah."

The redhead nodded, taking the keys Riku offered him before attempting to pry a cackling Roxas from a squirming, obviously ticklish Sora, who wasn't up for much talking at the moment—for once. He'd been quite comfortable snuggled between his two best friends. "Alright, stop flirting with your brother. Let's _go_."

Roxas would have most likely snorted with disdain and given a scathing reply if he'd been sober, but—well, being _not_ sober he could only give a snort that turned into helpless giggles. Axel rolling his eyes as he practically dragged the hysterical drunkard away and towards the front door and outside into what was technically a brand new day. "Seriously, Roxas, you're like…_retarded_ drunk right now." Axel chuckled, teetering with the stumbling teen to the car.

Roxas either decided to not reply, or was incapable while Axel unlocked and opened the passenger side door, before assisting his small charge into his seat. As the redhead slammed the car door shut, the small inebriated teen below muttered something, only to be drowned out by the car door closing. For a split second Axel thought of opening the door and asking what Roxas had said, but decided to skip the small effort and just get in on the drivers side.

As Axel went to put the keys in the ignition and start the car, Roxas lolled his head on the headrest towards outrageous red spikes and spoke: "…first time..name…." came the low mumble.

"Hm?"

The lanky man looked over as the engine purred and the car came to life. The smaller male in the car cleared his throat before speaking louder. "That was the first time…you actually said my name…not Roxie. Or Rox…just Roxas." He sighed softly, beautiful blue eyes fluttering closed. "Or _Princess_." He spat as an afterthought, blonde eye brows furrowing in discontent.

It was a good thing the redhead wasn't actually driving yet, because it took him a moment to force his eyes away from Roxas' relaxed face. Shaking his head he grabbed his phone from his pocket, dialing his current employer.

"_Hello?_"

"Hey, Cloud. It's Axel."

"_Is something wrong?_"

However, before Axel could reply, Roxas was suddenly mauling him, trying to either talk to Axel himself, or scream into the phone, the redhead could not tell.

"Cloud? Are you talking to Cloud?"

"Eurgggh! Rockshas! Ge' offa me!" Axel ground out while trying to hold the phone out of the little drunk hellion's reach and not let his face become one with the driver's side window, all at the same time.

"Is that Cloud? He can't know that I'm drunk, Axel! He just _can't_! You can't take me home; he'll find out, and _kill me dead._"

"_Roxas..?_" came Roxas' older brother's muffled, confused voice from Axel's phone.

Blue eyes became even more panicked, if possible, and Roxas felt as if his high from intoxication was coming to a quick end while fear coursed through his veins. "AXEL! Shhh! I am _not_ here!" and with that, he once again occupied the passenger side of the car, and the redhead had room to breath.

"_Seriously_, Roxas! Chill _out,_ you fucking psycho!" As if he wasn't weird normally, he had to be an absolute idiot when drunk.

Axel groaned while rubbing a sore spot on his right arm where Roxas had thought it wise to embed his sharp little fingers. "Cloud, you still there?" He brought the phone back to his ear and gave the frightened blonde a dirty look.

"_Yes_." Oh, how dare he be amused at a time like this?

"Well, I'm assuming you heard that." Jeez, he bet that Sora and Riku had even heard it over all that music.

"_Yes. How is he?_"

"Oh, he's fine, pretty drunk if I do say so myself. Although he _is_ being a bit difficult," another dirty look from scandalized green eyes, "What do you want me to do? I think he might try to kill me if I try to take him back home. I wasn't having any problems until I decided to call you…" that reminded Axel of why he called in the first place, and he quickly informed Cloud of Riku and Sora's plans.

The older blonde paused over the phone while he thought, Axel having long ago turned off the car.

"_Would it be too much to ask for you to take him to your apartment? I could always wire you two some money for a hotel. I plan on paying you extra anyways; I know this is way beyond the duties of a bodyguard._" There Cloud went rambling again when he felt guilty or awkward.

"Naah, that's fine, my place is fine; and you don't need to pay me extra. I have no problem with keeping kids off alcohol." Axel laughed softly (as if he was old enough to drink in the first place) as he once again started the car, assuring Cloud a few more times everything was fine before he was able to hang up and finally roll out of the parking space next to the curb.

He glanced over to see Roxas facing out the passenger window with his head against the glass. Having assumed the boy was asleep, he was slightly surprised with Roxas spoke.

"..'m sorry."

"For what?" Honest curiosity made itself friend to Axel as he stopped at a stop sign before looking both ways and continuing on.

"For being such a jerk…and a pain in the ass all the time."

Slurring was really not an attractive quality when it came to the cranky blonde.

Axel smirked, "So why don't you just stop then, if you're so sorry? Why not just be nice to me? At least be civil towards me; you don't _have_ to like me."

"I can't do that…" Roxas shook his head slowly, against the glass. He felt so tired, and suddenly depressed. "It goes against my rules." He muttered softly under his breath, not even realizing he'd said it out loud. Blame his inebriated condition.

"Your rules, huh?"

Roxas didn't answer.

Axel was finally back on the main roads, and out of the rich, tight knit community of Radiant Gardens where Pence's house resided; along with many of Roxas' other friends.

"Hey, you want anything from a McMoogle's? I'm starving." (1) The redhead suddenly asked, turning into a parking lot and then a drive-thru of the popular burger chain. The blonde in the passenger seat sat up a bit straighter as they pulled up to the menu. A bright sign at the corner of the menu advertised that they were open twenty-four hours. Those poor, graveyard-shifting, bastards.

"Hello, welcome to McMoogle's, I'm ready to take your order, whenever you're ready!" said a horribly cheerful female voice for nearly two in the morning while Axel rolled down the window. "Yes, one moment please." He replied, equally polite. Turning, he looked towards his drunk, sleepy blon— erm, ward.

"What do you want?" Roxas only shook his head, and answered a quiet "Idunno"

Axel rolled his eyes, ordered a few burgers (for _himself_, extra pickles) an extra large fry to split between them, a large Coke, and—

"Hey, what kind of smoothie do you like?"

Roxas frowned in a confused manner. "Strawberry-banana…why?"

Axel relayed the rest of the order to the peppy McMoogle's worker before he pulled up behind another car in front of him. Mostly likely some drunken teenagers, who really shouldn't be out this late—oh, wait.

"I got you a smoothie because if you start vomiting in the morning, at least it will taste nice." He busted out laughing at Roxas' look of disgust, and mutter of "Why did I ask…?"

"Naah, mostly because if you _do_ throw up, it won't hurt, or be as unpleasant as it would if you had solid food. Believe me; certain foods should just _not_ be eaten when you're getting drunk for the first time."

As the car in front pulled ahead, Axel moved their car forward and politely paid the overly sweet cashier before once again pulling up behind the people in front of them.

"What kinds of food?" Roxas asked softly.

The lanky firecrotch snickered and leaned his head back on the headrest, turning to look at him. "Carrots." He enlightened in monotone.

Roxas blinked. Then he sat up straight, an even more curious expression on his face.

"…._Carrots_?"

"Yep," the redhead laughed, "First time I ever got drunk, I was fourteen. It was about a week before my fifteenth birthday—crap, wait a sec." and before he could finish, he was pulling up to the next window and accepting the paper bags with their food, and their two drinks. Giving the tired looking employee a swift 'thank you' he pulled out of the drive-thru and back into traffic.

"—Anyways, I ate a ton of those baby carrots. And I mean _a ton_. There was a whole veggie plate, and I ate all the carrots out of it, single handedly through out the night as I drank." Axel grinned to himself as he reminisced, stopping at a red-light. "I drank a shitload. So obviously I started vomiting towards the end of the night. Carrot. Chunks. Everywhere. I'm told it wasn't pretty."

"You were _told?_" even Roxas was grinning, despite the talk of puking. Oh the personality changes that came with drinking.

The light turned green, and Axel turned left while laughing, "Yeah, all I remember was blacking out _right_ when I felt queasy and then the next morning I was on my couch with the worst hangover ever." (2)

Both were grinning, and chuckling while the tattooed teen reached into the paper bag to snatch a few hot fries, offering some to the other passenger.

"Sounds like a good time.." Roxas joked, nibbling on a French-fry.

"Oh yeah, good time. Just wait till _tomorrow_, mister. In fact, you're looking a little sober; I'll have to fix that when we get to my place." Axel grinned evilly, turning right, and into a street that held houses and a few business and apartment buildings. "You're gonna wish you never laid eyes on me."

"Oh, _believe me_," The small, honey blonde slurred around salty potato goodness, "I already _do_."

Axel rolled his sharp emerald eyes, and continued to drive down the street for quite some time before he slowed and turned into a parking lot.

Quickly finding a parking spot, he then began to coax Roxas out of the car with the promises of a comfy sofa and food. He led the boy towards the door of his one bedroom flat, suddenly glad he didn't live on the upper floor of the apartments, like his neighbors. It would have been quite an accomplishment to get Roxas up all those concrete, broken-bone-waiting-to-happen stairs.

Unlocking and opening the door, he herded a giggling Roxas (there was no way to figure out what was so funny) inside.

"Well," he sighed cheerfully, "make your self at home. The place might be a bit dusty, since I haven't lived here in like a month. Although I told Demyx he could crash here when he wanted to…" he trailed off, setting the bags of food, drinks, and his keys on the bar-counter that peeked into the kitchen.

Roxas trailed his fingers across the back of the couch, which was three to four feet away from the bar-counter that Axel was currently standing at, sifting through the bags. The place was a bit small, but very comfortable. Roxas could tell that much, even if he wasn't in his most sober of mind. The blonde began giggling.

"What's so funny?" Axel's asked as he unwrapped a warm burger.

"Your couches are hideous…" indeed they were. The couch and matching loveseat were a deep gray in color (and if Roxas had been clear-headed, he might have suspected they had once been white, when in fact that was their natural color), and looked lumpy, and so worn out that they should have been in the dump.

The owner of said couches grinned as he took a bite of his food, "Just sit on one; they're so fucking comfortable you'll never want to get up." He supplied after swallowing.

Roxas attempted to give a disbelieving look, but since he couldn't exactly function his facial expressions properly (at least he _thought_ his body was doing what he told it…which was probably for the best), it looked more like he was really constipated. Not one of the most attractive looks for Roxas, but it could have been worse. Maybe…

Rolling his eyes, Axel gave the blonde a hard shove, as if he were trying to knock the stupid look off the kids face. "Sit."

The blonde just cackled like a witch as he tumbled over the back of the couch and would have somersaulted off if Axel hadn't grabbed one of his ankles in time. Fumbling with himself until he was lying on his side, facing the ugly gray, yet silky, material of the couch, he moaned. "Oh my _God_…"

"I _told_ you."

"I'm replacing my bed with your couch."

"Like hell you are!"

Roxas chuckled, and snuggled his face into one of the matching throw-pillows; automatically inhaling a scent that the back of his mind identified as Axel's..and something (or someone?) else he couldn't quite place.

"Mmmn…where's my food?"

"Right here~!" Axel sing-songed, shaking the bag that contained the fries above the cozy teen.

"Gimmie."

"Naaah, I think I'll just eat all these fries by myself. You don't seem liked you'd appreciate them; you're too drunk."

Roxas groaned. "I'm not too drunk to eat. Gimmie my food," he said with a hint of a whine, batting his free arm in what he assumed was Axel's direction.

"Get up and then you can eat."

Roxas fussed like a spoiled brat for a moment before flopping around childishly and rolling off the couch with a grunt, "I hate you."

The redhead shook his head, and grinned around his mouthful of his second burger, having already scarffed his first. He was enjoying tormenting an intoxicated Roxas too much; he was so different from when he was sober. Much easier to mess around with. Sober Roxas would have probably stomped away a least twenty times that night, what with all of Axel's usual obnoxious behavior. But Drunken Roxas preferred to play along. Too bad Sober Roxas didn't know how to loosen up without the aid of a drink. It was quite a pity; he was actually a lot of fun to be around when he wasn't being a little brat.

Snatching the grease stained bag from a smirking redhead, after making his way from around the couch, he proceeded to wander into the small tiled area that he supposed was the 'dining room' and into the kitchen.

Axel grabbed the rest of their food and quickly followed.

"What'cha doin'?"

"Ketchup. Where is it?"

An idiotic pause. "…the fridge?"

Moments later Roxas had a bottle of ketchup and was using the wrapper from Axel's second burger as a make-shift plate for the fries and tomato dip.

After a while of their munching at the small round table in the 'dining room', Axel spoke up, now unwrapping his third burger. "So, you want to tell me about your 'Three Rules'?"

The blonde blinked owlishly as he swallowed a gulp of his—delicious— smoothie. His face was completely blank for a moment, as if he was contemplating something before his expression broke out into a coy grin.

"I'm not _nearly_ drunk enough to tell you about that."

Axel thought for a moment, before cocking his head, smirking back, "Well, are you drunk enough to tell me _why_ you have 'Three Rules'?"

Once again, the smaller teen looked thoughtful. "Maaaybe. But probably not. I'd need more to drink." Then he grinned devilishly, "_And_ a bite of that burger." Pointing a fry at said sandwich, for emphasis.

The redhead rolled his eyes, "Don't blame me if you regret this when you're throwing up McMoogle's cheeseburger in the morning." Was all he said when he passed over the half eaten hamburger, getting up and walking to the fridge.

Roxas moaned after taking a bite, much like he had on the couch.

"I love McMoogle's…" he sighed happily.

Axel chuckled, bringing back two alcoholic looking beverages; a beer for himself and—

The youngest Strife child tried to focus on the letters that seemed to be swimming on the bottle. Quickly snagging a few more bites off the cheeseburger before handing it back to Axel.

"Grape…" he began to read after he swallowed his mouthful. "Smirnoff… Ice." (4) Phew, glad _that_ was over. No more reading for a smashed Roxie.

He frowned.

"I didn't know you drank stuff like this." Honestly, the lanky man across from his seemed like a shot taking guy. Not that he could know for sure, since Axel hadn't drunk anything so far.

"I don't. Well, usually anyways. That's Demyx's. I usually keep a few in my fridge for when he comes over." Roxas vaguely remembered hearing that name earlier.

"That's that friend you've talked about before, right? The one who likes sandcastles or something…"

Axel laughed around the straw to his cola. "The beach; he likes water."

"Yeah that." Roxas passed Axel his drink so the redhead could snap the bottle cap off. Not to say he was incapable of doing so, he just didn't trust himself to take it off barehanded without injuring his person.

"So, start telling me about why you have your Rules, yeah?" Axel smiled, pouring some rum from the bottle he had brought into his remaining amount of coke; after having helped Roxas with his drink, of course.

Axel had long ago finished off his cheeseburgers, not feeling like eating the fourth (and last) one he bought. Instead he decided to help Roxas finish off those salty fries. Not forgetting to steal some of Roxas' ketchup. He propped his chin on the palm of the hand he wasn't using to eat, as he watched Roxas' face become thoughtful once more.

"Let's go into the living-room if I'm going to tell you. I want to lie down."

Axel shook his head. "Hell no. You're going to fall asleep on me if we do that." '_And then you won't tell me because you won't have alcohol in your system by the time you wake up._'

This whole Mission Impossible to get Roxas drunk seemed to be working out in his favor. He could figure out what the little blonde's beef was, _and_ get his job done.

Roxas groaned, "Fiiine." He adjusted himself before taking a drink off the bottle of alcohol, having just finished his smoothie. "Did you know Sora and I have different birthdays?" he said suddenly.

Axel frowned, not seeing where this was going: "No..? Aren't you guy's twins?"

Roxas chuckled, staring off into space.

"Yeah; our mom went into labor in late afternoon. She gave birth to Sora at eleven fifty-eight PM on June thirtieth. I was born at twelve thirteen AM on July first. Not only do we have different birthdays, but we were born in different months."

"That's crazy." Axel laughed.

Roxas grinned, still staring off. "Yup. One of the things I remember she used to say when I was younger was that if we had have been born one month earlier, we would have been twin Gemini's." Axel chuckled.

"My mom owned Strife&Co Toys. She kept her maiden name when she married father." Before Roxas could go on, his bodyguard interrupted him.

"Wait— your _mom_ was Momma Strife? I grew up playing with toys from her company!" Axel said excitedly. It should have been obvious, given Roxas' last name that he was related to the woman they spoke of, but Axel only knew who the blonde's father had been; not his mother. Even though Cloud Strife was currently the head of the company, he didn't know that Momma Strife had actually been _their_ mother. Maybe Axel was just thick.

Roxas' smile was slightly sad, "Yeah, me too."

"Maaan, you must have been spoiled _rotten_ as a kid."

"Heh, not really. Mom didn't want us to grow up to be spoiled brats, even though we had a lot of money. Cloud raised us the same way. Made Sora and I work our butts off to buy our own car. Then the jerk bought us a brand new car right after, as a reward. We hardly use that one though. We like the car _we_ worked for.

"Anyways, mom died a few months before Sora and I turned eight. It really messed Sora up. He was a real momma's boy. Still is. He used to wake up screaming and sobbing every night for about six months after she died. It was awful. The only person who could get him to calm down was me or Cloud. Father couldn't at all. Sora would just throw a _horrible_ tantrum when he tried. It used to make father so frustrated. Thinking back, I don't think Sora or I thought about how moms death affected dad.

"I think it made my father feel useless, you know? He owned the largest hospital in Hallow Bastion, and was one of the best doctors and scientists in all of the Worlds, and yet he couldn't do a thing to save mom. Do you remember that virus about twelve years ago that went straight for the nervous system, destroying your body at a rapid rate? It made your body stop functioning correctly until you were practically a breathing corpse before attacking your heart."

When Axel nodded solemnly, Roxas continued.

"Mom was one of the first to become ill with it. No antidote or cure had been produced yet, since so little was known about it. I think it really bothered dad that he couldn't do a thing to save mom." He repeated, taking a sip off his drink, it was slightly awkward, talking with a slur. "So, father took his team of top leading scientists and made it his job to find a remedy. Everyone talked about how Dr. Wise was going to cure all the Worlds of the disease know as the Heartless Infection (5). Ansem the Wise, people called our father. He'd created so many antidotes before, who was to say that he wouldn't this time, right? Well, about two years later, created in record time, was what my father thought was the cure."

Now things were beginning to sound familiar to Axel. He hadn't really paid much attention to the news as a child, but everyone old enough to understand at the time knew about the Heartless Infection and Ansem Wise's antidote.

"The public didn't find out till _after_ my father died, but my father's top student, and most trusted colleague, Xemnas had botched the antidotes on purpose, out of revenge. I guess he was tired of living in father's shadow. Sick of not getting credit where credit was due.

"So when the remedy was handed out to thousands, throughout all the Worlds, it was a disaster. Not only did it not cure the Heartless Infection, it speeded up the process so much that instead of killing off your nervous system, it went straight for your heart."

Roxas paused for a while, and Axel just stared, processing all that had been told to him. Much of it he knew from growing up while this had happened. It however made it different to hear it from someone who'd experienced it so up-close-and-personal. About ten-thousand people had died, all together.

"Naturally father was blamed for it. All of the deaths fell onto his shoulders. And he made a public apology, which Sora, Cloud, and I attended. Our family's bodyguard, whom had been attending social events with our family since before my mother had died, was there too. Barret," the image of a large, muscled black man flowed into Roxas' mind. That man had always treated the Strife children as if they were his own. It was probably why Roxas became so upset when he died. "was the first of my guards to die. During my father's public apology, a distraught father from Land of Dragons had snuck in a gun to the public apology. He had decided that killing my brothers and I would be proper revenge for my father's antidote killing his young daughter. So or course, when the bullet's went flying, Barret jumped into action to protect us. Barret didn't even stop protecting us until the man had been subdued. He didn't make it to the hospital."

The last part had been whispered so quietly, Axel almost hadn't caught it. Roxas seemed lost in his memories for a moment before Axel delicately cleared his throat. Snapping his eyes back to the enamored redhead, he blinked and took another drink off his Smirnoff before resuming his story.

"Dad died about a year and a half later from a heart attack. So many people thought it the perfect death. It was only after that that they found out Xemnas was the one behind it all. He'd pretty much gone insane at that point; admitted to the whole thing. He quickly went through trial and was sent to jail. He's still there, too." Bitterness had crept into Roxas voice before his expression softened.

"A few months before dad died though, Cloud got himself emancipated. Which was kind of perfect timing, because if he hadn't Sora and I would have been shipped off to some orphanage, along with Cloud. Both moms' toy company had been left to Cloud when he became eighteen to do with as he wished. The same thing went for father's hospital, for when he also passed away. Cloud kept the toy company, but sold the hospital. I guess it was to distance us from the virus scandal. It didn't work though, as you can see, considering you're now my guardian.

"But before I get into any of that, I should probably explain the whole Cloud and Sephiroth thing. Sephiroth had been a family friend and Strife&Co. partner for a few years. So when the courts were having trouble entrusting two ten year olds to a seventeen year old boy, emancipated or not, Sephiroth stepped in. Technically, he's mine and Sora's adoptive-father."

Axel's eyebrows shot up, "What the hell seriously?"

"Yeah," Roxas chuckled, "he adopted us, since the courthouse wouldn't allow Cloud to become our legal guardian. So we all kind of…moved in together. I'm not sure when, or how Sephiroth or Cloud got together; Cloud refuses to talk about all the details. They've been together for over five years though. Our adoption was transferred to Cloud when he turned twenty, but for three years Sephiroth was our adoptive parent."

"So when and how did you guys meet Riku?"

Roxas grinned, finishing the last of his drink.

"Right when we moved in with Sephiroth; Riku is Sephiroth's younger brother, and their mom passed away when Riku was really young, and it fell upon Sephiroth to raise him—their father died before their mom even found out she was pregnant with Riku. It had been easier for Sephiroth to gain custody of his little brother, than it had been when Cloud had tried to get us. I guess it's because he was eighteen and already the head of his company, believe it or not."

Axel believed it; the silver haired man was known for taking over his company from a young age. The electronics and computer software company had hardly been known before Sephiroth had become the president and made it what it was today. It was known for things from making the best computers, and cell phones, to making amazing animatronics for toys and things of the like. That was how it had come in contact with Strife&Co in the first place. Momma Strife had coo'd over the young handsom CEO upon their first meeting.

"Well, to say the least, Riku was a little _shit head_ the first time Sora and I met him. He was a really big jerk to Sora, and he pretty much left me alone. Sora is a really outgoing and likable person right? And when he met Riku, Riku kind of hated him, and Sora didn't know what to do. It didn't help he was a total cry baby when he was younger." Roxas giggled, accepting a shot of rum when Axel offered him one (he'd gotten up to get the shot glass as Roxas had spoken).

"I don't really remember too well when Riku and Sora started to be friends. I think it was when Riku was picking on Sora, and instead of crying like he usually did, Sora pushed Riku out of a tree."

Axel busted out laughing, trying to imagine a ten year old Sora pushing a bullying ten year old Riku out of a tree. Honestly, he just couldn't see it. "Was he ok?"

Roxas snorted, "Of course he was. Riku is tough as nails, not much can hurt him." he thought for a moment before giving a slurred chuckle, "Except a drunken ass Sora."

"When I was eleven, a high schooler who I'd never seen before tried to assault Sora and I on our way from home. Kind of like the father from Land of Dragons, he was trying to get revenge on our family for what our father had supposedly done to someone he loved."

"Didn't he know that it wasn't really your dad's fault?"

Roxas shrugged, "He didn't care, I guess. People still don't care. Riku was able to defend Sora, but he couldn't exactly protect both of us, and I got hurt. It wasn't anything too serious though. That was when Cloud and Sephiroth decided Sora and I needed full time bodyguards. Since Riku had done such a good job handling Sora, they decided to just allow him to protect my brother, since he'd be around him all the time anyways."

The redhead's expression became confused.

"They just let a little kid protect your brother against crazy, revenge obsessed idiots?"

Roxas snickered.

"You have to realize he was raised by _Sephiroth_. That kid grew up learning all kinds of self defense technique's, not to mention offense. Pretty soon people learned not to try and mess with Sora unless they had a death wish. I, on the other hand, am the one who became known for being cursed. All my previous bodyguards died, save for one who resigned due to _near_-death. It's a good thing Cloud had Sora and I learn at least a little bit of self defense at, what is now, your cousin's dojo. Otherwise I probably would have died a long time ago, even with the aid of someone protecting me.

"I used to get so upset every time my bodyguard died, but I eventually kind of…stopped, I guess. I stopped getting to know them, being nice to them, and just kind of acting like they weren't there. It makes it easier when they die, I guess, but not by much. Not as much as I pretend it does. That's pretty much it."

And then Roxas' blank expression crumpled, and for a horrible moment Axel thought the boy was going to start crying. The expression quickly disappeared however, and the blonde beckoned for the bottle of rum.

As he refilled his shot glass sloppily, Axel spoke.

"So…I guess that's what your three rules are about, huh? Not getting close to your bodyguards and stuff so you don't feel like a guilty shit when they die?" instead of answering, Roxas hastily drank his shot, grimacing when it burned from gulping it wrong. He bent over the table and coughed harshly.

When his hacking fit was over, Axel looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"You know, the first time I saw you wasn't when I met you in your brother's office. It was actually the first time you showed up at Reno's dojo."

Roxas focused on the red blob he took for Axel's head; "Oh yeah?" he garbled drunkenly.

"Mhmm." Axel smirked, making a face as if it was a fond memory. "You were really tiny—still are— and so scrawny. I thought you were kind of pathetic looking. You didn't really catch on too quickly to the self defense moves my uncle, Reno, and Rude where showing you. You really seemed like someone who needed to be protected; I guess that's why when I met up with Reno and Cloud I agreed to the job so quickly." He laughed softly.

Roxas narrowed his eyes for a moment, whether in a peevish manner or because he was having trouble focusing on Axel, neither could tell. "What the hell were you doing watching me, you creeper? And who says I need protecting! I can handle myself."

The skinny redhead snorted a disbelieving laugh. "Excuse me? Who's the one who's gone through _seven_ bodyguards? And I was helping out around the dojo in payment for martial arts lessons at the time, you tiny idiot."

"Uh-huh, sssssuure." The honey-blonde slurred out, pretty blue eyes crossing. "We'll spar sometime, and you'll _see_ I'm better than you."

Axel wanted to flick that tan forehead.

"Oh yeah? Then why do you need a bodyguard?"

Roxas' mouth popped open and closed a few times before he seemed to give up and decide not to answer; a focused look on his face.

"That's what I thought," the redhead smirked smugly.

"Shut up."

"Don't be mean just because I'm right, Roxie—"

"No, _shut up—_!"

And before he could hope to say more, Roxas blew chunks all over the dining room table, and he felt his mind go pleasantly blank.

**

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"—well you can imagine my surprise when I walk into your house at seven AM and I see a blonde I've never met before on your couch and you nowhere in sight. Scared the shit out of me."

"Yeah, sorry," a familiar voice laughed, "It was kind of unexpected that we had to crash here. I didn't think I'd have to warn you."

"Well who else waters your plants?"

"Demyx, I have _one_ cactus! How often have you been watering it? It hardly needs water!"

"..every few days?" came the meek reply.

"OH MY GOD. You probably killed it, you stupid bastard." As mean as his words were, Axel didn't sound too angry, considering he was laughing.

"Oh, I did not, you big baby. So that kid is your new job, right?"

"Yup, name is Princess Roxie, get it memorized."

At that very moment, Roxas was very comfortable in his hazy, blacked out sleepy state. But the increasing need to vomit had him running from the couch and past the dining room towards the bathroom (God knew how he knew where it was).

"Oh! Good morning Princess Roxie! Did you have a good night's sleep?" Came Demyx's cheerful greeting while Roxas made a mad-dash for the bathroom.

"_SHUT UP AXEL, I DON'T NEED YOU'RE BULLSHIT RIGHT NOW._" Roxas automatically took the sentence as something Axel would say, and didn't register that it was in fact _not_ Axel who had spoken.

"What the fuck..? I didn't even _say_ anything." Axel was laughing again, not noticing Demyx's terrified-nearly-to-tears expression at the demonic tone the small honey blonde haired boy had used.

The sounds of puking could be heard all across the small apartment, and Demyx turned to his redheaded best friend with an accusing look.

"What did you _do_ to him?"

The tattooed man shrugged, smirking. "His brother wanted me to teach him a lesson about drinking, so I did."

"Ah."

The sound of up-chucking became silent for a while when the two suddenly heard a murderous voice snarl out: "_Axel_! I fucking HATE you!" and the sound of something unpleasant hitting toilet water came again, followed by choking, and sputtering. A few gags later and Roxas was speaking again:

"_I'm going to kill you, Axel_!" this time it sounded more human, and like he was about to start sobbing any minute. It almost made Axel feel guilty. Almost.

"Blame your brother!" He called back, still smirking.

"Which one?"

Oh yeah, the kid sounded like he was going to start crying any minute. Getting up, Axel began walking to his bathroom as he heard the toilet flush. "Which one do you think?"

Roxas was washing his hands and face by the time Axel was leaning in the doorway.

"Cloud."

"You should brush your teeth; the stomach acid isn't good for them." Axel said in reply, going on a hunt for an extra toothbrush in the cupboard under the sink. He quickly found a lime green one and handed it to the miserable looking boy. Fluffing up yellow locks of hair, Axel walked away. Roxas was too hung over to even bitch the redhead out for getting too close or touchy-feely.

_Man_ he must have been feeling like shit.

Not long after Axel had left, Roxas soon came back out, minty fresh. Flopping onto the couch once again, he ignored any and all comments and fell straight back to sleep.

**

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The whole day Roxas spent sleeping, vomiting into a conveniently placed bucket, or giving Axel scathing looks.

It had been about the third or fourth time Roxas had woken up to dry heave into the bucket (which had been emptied since the last time he threw up in it).

He spat into the blue bucket as if to mock it, since he no longer seemed to have anything in his organs to throw up.

"Hey, Rox!"

The blonde looked up unhappily to see Axel holding out a can, grinning like Christmas came early, Demyx sitting next to him on the loveseat watching TV.

"Want a beer?"

And the darndest thing happened. Suddenly, Roxas insides decided he _indeed_ had enough stomach bile in his system to up-heave and he was once again throwing up into the blue bucket who was his newest best friend.

The redhead cackled. Yes, he was _that_ cruel.

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"I hate you; get away from me!" Roxas moaned pathetically. Demyx had left an hour before while Roxas had been sleeping, and Axel was now trying to get him to eat a pink Otter-Pop.

"Come on Roxie. You have to eat something."

"No I don't," he whined back, "I'm just going to throw it up in twenty minutes." He was exhausted, and had been throwing up for so long he was surprised he wasn't dead. He could only hope he was dying from alcohol poisoning.

Axel had been trying to keep his fluids up by making him drink water, but he just ended up spewing that too.

The combination of his exhaustion, pain, and absolute miserable mood had salty tears trying to squeeze their way out of his eyes and down his palid face. He just wanted to stop throwing up. He didn't even have a headache! Nothing of the sort; all he did was puke constantly. It was single-handedly the worst experience of his life, and he'd had a pretty rough life.

"Roxas, please? At least if you eat this, you won't be throwing up warm water or bile."

"Oh yeah, because Popsicle flavored throw up is so much better!" he said sarcastically.

"Actually, it is." (6)

Roxas curled up further, giving a dry sob before reaching shakily for the frozen treat. He didn't care anymore, so long as Axel left him alone.

Nibbling on the strawberry, surprisingly tasty, Popsicle, he almost didn't notice when Axel threw a blanket over his balled up form.

"I'm going to call your brother soon; it's already late afternoon. You're probably going to stay another night, unless you want to go home?"

Roxas slowly shook his head 'no' against his pillow, crunching his food. "Didn't think so."

Roxas could only finish half the Otter-Pop before he made Axel go put the rest back into the freezer. He fell asleep once again, not long after, wishing that death would visit him and take him from the awful existence that was The First Hangover.

**TBC**

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**A/N:** (1) I'll let your mind wander with why Cloud is wide awake at one in the morning.

(2) HOW ORIGINAL, SELDOMFOLLOWIT. Since this is the internet, I will inform you that was _sarcasm._ Plenty of people tend to confuse it with seriousness. Equivalent of McDonald's of course xD

(3) So, Axel's whole drunk experience, from when he says "Yep" to when I put the author note, was actually how _my_ first drunk experience went. I thought something goofy like that would fit Axel. Also, Roxas' _hangover_ is exactly what my first hangover was like. Even down to someone offering me a beer, and immediately vomiting into a bucket at the words. It was awesome. I thought a hangover that was pathetic like that was perfect for Roxas. Goofy, and pathetic. That is me in a nutshell. Same with Roxas mistaking Demyx's words for Axel and bitching him out as he ran past. I did the exact same thing to someone.

(4) Pretty sure I spelled Smirnoff wrong, but I'm too much of a lazy bastard to check.

(5) Stupid name is stupid. Please, PLEASE don't comment on it xD

(6) Actually…it is o_e;;;

Long chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. I know I loved writing this chapter. Probably my favorite chapter so far. I thought about making Roxie's and Sora's mommy Aerith, but I decided some nameless woman would suffice :P

Please go review~. Tell me your thoughts. What you liked or disliked, or even what you're confused about. Since you guys did such a good job getting to ten reviews last time, I'm not going to set a limit on how many reviews I want for the next chapter to be release ;] Because it might be a while before the next chapter is released! School started for me a week ago, so yeah.


	6. Chapter Six: Miss SK

Yeaaah. No excuse for how late this is except that life got in the way, so many horrible things have been happening lately, and I kind of lost the drive to finish this :/ Hope you enjoy this very late chapter~

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**Chapter Six:** Miss S.K.

A dreamy sigh escaped his lips as Sora's thoughts cracked through sleepy consciousness. He snuggled deeper into the warmth that surrounded him, his mind crawling awake as he began to become aware of his surroundings. Red and silver locks invading his breathing bubble informed him that he was sandwiched between Riku and Kairi.

The brunette smiled gently without realizing it, thinking about how many times in the past he'd woken up in a similar fashion. It was, oddly, not awkward. He took a deep breath and reveled in the fact that he didn't seem to have a hangover—although he was a bit a sore…hopefully he hadn't been running into too many things last night. He wasn't exactly the most coordinated, even when sober, and it was known to happen. Usually Riku was there to make sure he didn't bruise himself too badly.

Sora once again snuggled further into one of the bodies next to him, vaguely registering it as Riku's. The silver haired teen's breathing was calm and sedated, helping to lull Sora back to sleep. Until, a voice in the back of his mind spoke up. _Shouldn't he be pressed up more to Kairi? Instead of practically _mauling_ his best friend while he slept?_ It didn't really bother him, lying against Riku that is. Riku was a hell of a lot taller than Kairi and tended to provide much more warmth. But wasn't it supposed to go that he should fall in love with his girl-best-friend?

_But wait, who even said anything about love? This was just about snuggly-morning-time, wasn't it?_

The steady stream of thoughts throughout the Sora's head brought him full out into the world of the conscious, and after ten more minutes of lying there and not being able to drift back to sleep, he slowly sat up with a disgruntled expression.

He tried to reason with himself that he needed to go to the bathroom anyways, as he slipped out of the spare room of Pence's house. Once he took care of his bodily needs he crept back into the bedroom to check his phone for missed calls or texts.

Most of the missed texts he'd received were from Axel. Little nuggets of pure gold, Sora decided, as he read through the texts. Most documented Roxas' night of throwing up all over Axel's apartment, and the redheads displeasure of having to disinfect his kitchen table, his hallway, some of the living room carpet, the back corner of his couch, the tile in the laundry room at the back of his apartment (Seriously, Axel was confused how that had even _happened_ without him noticing), and the obvious one, his bathroom.

Sora had to stifle his giggles as he read, checking the times for each text he'd received. The last one made him laugh out loud: "_I'm so glad he can't stop puking, because that means he can't bitch or whine. But maybe I'd rather hear him bitching, than have to see him puking. It's getting pretty gross._"

His laughter must have been too noisy, because Kairi stirred in her sleep before flopping over onto her back, with her arms and legs splayed out, directly smacking Riku in the face.

He woke with a startled grunt before slapping the redheads arm away from him.

"Damn it, Kairi…why do you have such man-hands?" he grumbled into the pillow.

The small redheaded girl kicked the boy which awarded her with another grunt, "I do not have man-hands, you big jerk!"

Riku lifted his face from the pillow to reply when he noticed Sora standing near the door to the bedroom.

"What are you grinning about?"

The blue eyed brunette held up his phone. "Roxas is _drunk_. Barf-tastic drunk."

The silver haired teen scoffed as he rolled over onto his back.

"I bet Cloud is enjoying _that_."

Sora shook his head. "He's at Axel's, and Axel is dealing with it. He said Cloud asked him to get Roxas smashed so he'd never touch alcohol again."

Kairi frowned and sat up a bit to lean on her elbow and look over at her friend, "How come he never did that with you or Riku?"

Sora shrugged as he set his phone down on top of the dresser in the room. He looked over as Riku sat up, revealing that he was indeed naked from the waist up (Sora pretended it didn't bother him that Riku was half naked in bed with Kairi. Problem was, he couldn't tell who he was jealous over.), before the pale boy stretched and yawned.

"Maybe it's because everybody babies the crap out of Roxas? He has enough pain inflicted on him on a regular basis; he doesn't need to be like every other teenager who drinks for fun or self harm. I actually agree with Cloud on this one," Once finished with his little speech, Riku stood up to retrieve his shirt. "Sora, what time is it?"

The younger boy picked his phone back up to check the time

"Uhh, two-twelve," He replied.

Riku nodded, "We should probably head home soon; I'm hungry."

"Ohh, can we go get some crepes? I was thinking about those last night…I haven't had any in years," Kairi sighed dreamily as she spoke. Both of the boys shrugged, consenting to her request.

"Fine, but you're paying," Riku told her.

She frowned as she got out of the bed to gather up her stuff, "Why do I have to pay?"

Sora grinned cheekily as he wrapped his arms around her neck from behind, "Because, you love us, and we're growing boys."

Kairi snorted, "I don't think you're growing any taller, Sora. No matter how much you stuff yourself."

Riku chuckled as he led a grinning Kairi and a moping Sora out of the room and down the hall to go get their crepes.

**

* * *

**

Honey colored lashes fluttered for a moment as Roxas rolled over in his bundled cocoon of warmth. He was _so_ _comfortable_…he didn't want to get up. However, noisy sounds from the kitchen were causing him to rouse from dreamland; not to mention his bladder was begging him on hands-and-knees to go pee.

With a small sigh, he fumbled out of his comfy space on the couch, and went to go take care of business in the bathroom. Once done, and minty-breathed, he teetered into the kitchen, staring sleepily at the lanky redhead who was cooking something in a small pot.

Axel looked up for moment before going back to what he was doing, "'Morning."

Roxas grunted in response and walked further in, staring at the ingredients Axel had set on the counter. There was chicken flavored _Ramen_, a block of pepper-jack cheese, and a bottle of _Tabasco_ sauce.

"What are you making?" he grumped.

"Cheesy-Ramen," he stated as he cut off two small chunks of the cheese and began dicing them, "Want some?"

The honey-blonde contemplated the question for a moment as he stared. Sure, he was hella hungry, and yes, he enjoyed _Ramen_ like any normal teenager, but was he willing to ingest Cheesy-Ramen—something he had never thought of eating— on top of his empty, still-sensitive stomach?

"No," he replied. He continued to stand there, watching as Axel grabbed the noodles—which had been crushed—and added them to the boiling water. Not long after, the redhead combined the other ingredients in an obviously timed and practiced manner, before pouring the contents of the pot into a small bowl.

Roxas couldn't deny it smelled fucking amazing.

Both men walked to the dining room table and sat without a word. They both knew what was coming as Axel dished up a spoonful of the noodles and held it out, "Try some," he implored.

Roxas shook his head, his hands in his lap. Now that he wasn't full of alcohol, or still puking, he felt weird being in Axel's house, being so…_friendly_. Ugh, it felt so awkward, and it bothered him. After telling Axel all his private little details, he knew he'd feel like a dick if he continued to be a little snotty brat. Well…he'd probably still be snotty; after all, old habits die hard. That didn't make sitting at Axel's kitchen table any less weird.

"Eaaat iiiiit!" Axel crooned, waving it in his face slowly, trying not to dribble the steaming food off of the spoon.

Roxas opened his mouth to once again deny him, but soon found a mouthful of _very_ hot ramen in his mouth. His eyes bugged as he very comically stood up and began waving his hand in front of his mouth, trying to cool it off, all the while making noises of heated distress.

"Ha-Haaa! HOOOT!"

Axel tried not to laugh, and put on a hopefully remorseful face, "Sorry. I probably should have cooled it off a little bit before doing that."

Less than a minute later Roxas was back in his chair, glaring at the redhead and sporting a burnt tongue. The noodles had been so hot he almost couldn't taste them. What he did taste, however, was fucking _delicious_. God, as if he wasn't hungry before…

The blonde took no time in telling Axel to make him some; extra _Tabasco_ sauce.

Axel chuckled, agreed, and dug into his own bowl, devouring it in no time flat. Not long after he was done he got out the ingredients for another batch of cheesy-ramen. Roxas continued to sit rigidly at the dining room table.

Green eyes peeked over and gazed at the mopey blonde, deciding he'd have to be the one to strike up conversation.

"So…are things going to go back to the 'I hate your guts' type of deal now, or what?"

Roxas looked over, slightly ashamed, and shrugged pathetically. "I dunno…I guess not. I already felt like an asshole," he sighed. "I'd feel even worse if I went back to being rude to you all the time. But I'll probably still do it anyway; y'know, habit."

Axel nodded, and continued to cook Roxas his ramen, staying silent.

When he placed a new, steaming bowl in front of the blonde, Roxas spoke:

"That doesn't mean we're friends you know. I'll never be friends with you." He looked straight into the redheads bright eyes, unwavering. Axel stared back.

"Of course not," he purred. "What would ever make you think I expected such a thing?"

Axel quirked a tiny red eyebrow and gave a slightly suggestive pout, and just the over all look had Roxas snorting into his bowl with snickers as he took a bite, which soon turned in to full out laughter at Axel's expression. That man could not look _cute_ no matter how he tried. It made him look ridiculous.

Axel liked to believe he'd gotten his good deed done for the day as he watched The World's Most Cranky Teen inhale _Ramen_ down the wrong pipe and choke, due to his giggles.

**

* * *

**

Around noon, Axel and Roxas were preparing to leave and head back home. As Axel grabbed his keys, they both heard scratching at the front door. Roxas watched, confused, as the redhead opened the door to reveal a sleek calico cat.

"Hello, Miss. S.K." he crooned, bending down to pet the mewing creature.

_I didn't know Axel had a cat. Why didn't he bring her with him?_ "Is that your cat?"

The redhead shook his head, shutting the front door and walked into the kitchen; the calico trotted behind him, chattering her opinions away.

"I know, _I know_," Axel told her, "I missed you too."

Once inside the kitchen, he scrounged up a can of kitty food from the dark depths of a cupboard. Cracking it open, he stirred it with a fork a bit before placing it down on the floor for the cat to feast upon.

"She's not my cat…she's not anybodies, actually. I call her Miss S.K. because it's short for Miss Stray-Kitty," there was a soft smile to his face as he spoke. He gently petted the cat as she ate, crooning little words of love to her.

The blonde watched, amused. It wasn't everyday you saw someone meant to be _tough_ turning into mush over some stray feline. Then again, Axel was just weird, and this kind of thing should have been expected. The redhead made a sound of thoughtfulness as he started to feel up the cat in weird ways.

"Uhh…Axel, what are you doing?" Roxas didn't know whether to stop him or not. The cat was making disgruntled noises into her can, but she wasn't outright stopping Axel from his prodding's.

"Miss S.K. is pregnant," he replied as he poked and rubbed her abdomen.

Roxas frowned, "How do you know?" _What, you're not just a bodyguard, you're a vet too?_

Axel sighed and stood up to stretch. "My mom had a cat when I was younger, and she let her pop out a few litters before she got her fixed. Miss S.K. is actually pretty far along; I'd say about halfway through her pregnancy."

Who would have thought…Axel: the Kitty Expert.

"She doesn't have a home, you say?" Roxas asked with a contemplative look on his face. He bent down and held out his hand for the cat to sniff. Once she deemed him worthy, she went back to her can of Mystery-Meat in Gravy and he began to pet her.

The redhead smirked.

"Why, you thinking of adopting her?"

Roxas snorted, "No, we're not allowed to _have_ pets in our house any more."

This caught Axel's interest. It was true, he hadn't even seen so much as a goldfish since he'd started working for the Strife family. "..Why?"

"Because," Roxas began, "of Sora. That boy is cursed. He can't keep a single animal alive. I swear to God, we could have opened a pet cemetery with all the fish, lizards, dogs, cats, and other animals we've gone through. It's not like he even cared for them _that_ badly. Well…I guess he _did_ always forget to feed his fish…but a lot of the other animals either got sick, or were in accidents, or just disappeared."

Roxas thought for a moment and almost smiled, "The longest he's had a pet was about six months— it was a fish— and that's because Cloud and I were feeding it behind his back." He laughed softly.

Axel smirked, "Well…do you think if we _didn't_ let Sora stake claim on this cat, that she'd stay alive?"

"I dunno, probably," Roxas shrugged and stood up, looking the redhead in the eyes. He had to admit, Axel had really nice eyes…kind of feral looking. Like a kitty.

"Weeell, do you want to keep her?" Axel flashed his crooked grin, and rolled back and forth on his heels. "She needs a home. She's super sweet and loveable, and she's going to have her babies outside if she doesn't find a home."

Roxas was slightly taken aback at the suggestion, but quickly grew suspicious. His eyes narrowed:

"Why haven't _you_ adopted her if she needs a home so badly?"

Axel gave a shrug of his own.

"I pretty much already had before I started working for you. I would have taken her with me, but I didn't know if your brother would be ok with it, and instead of making a big fuss over it, I asked Demyx to take care of her while I was gone. It's why he came over yesterday."

"I thought he was here to water your cactus?" which completely baffled Roxas, since he hadn't even _seen_ a cactus in Axel's small apartment. Then again, he hadn't gone into the other teen's room. The lanky boy laughed.

"That too…so do you want her?" Axel was trying to use puppy-eyes, Roxas could tell. He was used to it from Sora. The bubbly brunette had some of the most powerful puppy-dog-eyes he had ever encountered. Axel's were pathetic is comparison.

"Uggh. Fine," Hey, just because they were pathetic didn't mean the loveable look the cat was giving him didn't work. It didn't help that she was winding around his ankles, purring herself into oblivion. "But I'll have to ask Cloud first. Do you even have a carrier?"

"No, but I have a pillow case," the redhead replied.

Roxas gave him a slightly horrified look, at which Axel rolled his green orbs.

"Sorry, forgot you grew up spoiled rotten. Culture shock, pillow cases are the cat carriers used in emergencies, when you don't have one, or when you're too ghetto/poor to buy one."

"That's horrible!"

"Hey, it's part of life. I'm sure Little Miss Alley Cat has been through worse," he drawled, leisurely walking towards his room to grab a spare pillowcase, before making his way back into the kitchen.

Miss S.K. had finished eating, and was still curling her body around Roxas' skinny ankles. The honey-blonde boy picked her up and held her close to his chest, glaring warily at the pillow case that Axel was holding open.

"C'mon Roxie, we don't have all day. Just plop her in!"

Roxas sent the redhead a scathing look, but didn't respond. As soon as he started to place the cat in the bag, she began meowing loudly, as if she was dying. Roxas felt terrible.

"Shh, shh, shh…" Axel cooed, taking control and engulfing her completely in the bedding, before holding her close to comfort her. Roxas stood awkwardly and watched as Axel calmed the feline enough to the point that she only mewed softly once in a while.

The redhead bounced gently, and petted her softly through the cloth, still mumbling words of comfort, "Do you have all your stuff? Keys? Ready to go?"

Roxas was tempted to laugh; Axel looked like he was cradling an infant. Instead, he just nodded, and jingled the keys he had grabbed off of the counter, before making his way towards the door.

"You're driving," Axel said, following the blonde teen out the door, making sure to lock the handle behind him.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," After all, it _was_ Roxas' car.

It wasn't too long after that they were on the road. Miss S.K. had began howling as soon as the car began moving, but with a little coaxing on Axel's part, she calmed down enough to only gurgle her discomfort every few minutes.

After that, the awkward silence was suffocating, and Axel couldn't stand it anymore.

"So…enjoy your first drunk experience?"

"For the love of everything holy, don't you dare talk about drinking or I will barf that ramen _all over you_."

Axel grimaced, "Eugh, no thanks. I've already dealt with enough Roxie vomit to last a lifetime."

Roxas smirked, and for some reason didn't feel very guilty over that fact. "Yeah…nice babysitting, by the way."

"Hey, I'm a bodyguard, not a baby-sitter," Axel replied.

"Preeetty much the same thing."

"Only when it comes to you," the redhead laughed. Roxas frowned; he'd set himself up for that one.

It was silent for a while again, and Roxas was just a few streets from home when Axel spoke:

"Maaan, you were so _dumb_ the other night!" He leaned his head back into the headrest and laughed.

Roxas cringed, and wished he could crawl into a hole, "Please, don't remind me," he could only wish he had been as lucky as Axel to black out the first time, but no, the gods didn't favor him in that respect.

"I don't want to ever think about the other night ever again. Just the thought of alcohol makes me want to throw up."

Axel leaned over a bit, silly grin on his face as he playfully nudged Roxas with his elbow, "Aww, c'mon, you _know_ I'm going to give Cloud a play-by-play, and you'll want to be there to hear it."

Roxas just shook his head. It was best not to respond. Besides, he needed to focus on pulling into his driveway. That's right, yeaah.

After parking the car in the large garage, both teens exited the vehicle and walked through the door connected to the house.

They weren't even two feet into the house before Axel dumped the bagged-kitty into the other boy's arms, before running off. "Say hi to Cloud for me!" he called as he ran down the hallway, evil cackles ringing through the halls.

Roxas' jaw dropped. He couldn't believe he had just been _left_ to deal with the cat; she wasn't even his! He didn't want to have to ask for Cloud's permission to keep her, _by himself_. He wasn't that brave.

_That evil bastard…_

He began stomping after Axel to curse him out until Cloud's head popped out of the kitchen doorway, "Roxas? You're home? Are you ok?"

The honey haired teen stopped in his tracks, the guiltiest look ever on his face. He held the bag-o-kitteh closer to himself, as if it would protect him from his eldest brother.

Cloud's eyes automatically locked onto the small bag, and the corner of his lips quirked, "Don't tell me, those are Axel's remains and you're looking for a quick way to dispose of them?"

Roxas was saved (or doomed?) from replying because at that moment Miss S.K. decided to voice her opinion of the situation in a dreadful howl.

Both of the blonde Strife brothers' eye's widened; one pair in fear, and the other in angry horror.

"_Roxas_, _you didn't_."

Fear kicked in, and Roxas began talking a mile a minute:

"I'm sorry! But she's homeless, and so sweet! Just for a little while? She's Axel's cat, but he didn't know if she could stay here, and I said I'd ask you, and she—"

"What if Sora gets a hold of her? Do you _want_ to go through that again?" Cloud was out in the hall now, standing in front of Roxas with his hands crossed over his chest.

"I promise I'll tell Sora he's not allowed to even _try_ to take care of her! Besides she's pregnant—"

"_Pregnant?_" Cloud rolled his eyes and momentarily threw his arms into the air, "For the love of God, Roxas, we might as well make a bunch of baby kitten coffins. You know your brother will want to keep one, if not them _all_."

Roxas' stance was steadily shrinking in obedience. "Please? She can't just have her kittens in the wild. She's Axel's."

Disbelief crossed Cloud's features, "I thought you said she was homeless."

Realizing his mistake, he tried to backtrack.

"Well, she is homeless, but Axel took care of her before he started working here…please? I swear I'll take care of her."

The elder brother sighed, rubbing his temples with his fingers. Damn, he was tired already and his brother hadn't been home for more than five minutes.

"If she's Axel's cat, make him take care of her. You'll have to ask Sephiroth when he gets home. It's not just my decision, you know. And for crying out loud, would you let her out of that damn _bag_ already?"

Roxas had been so focused on convincing his brother that he hadn't even noticed how much of a fit Miss S.K. was throwing. Her claws were puncturing and almost ripping the pillow case, and she was yowling like she was being drowned. He quickly uncovered her head and let her breath some fresh air before he bent down and let her all the way out.

She looked around for a moment, eyes wide, with her body low to the ground, ready to beat it the hell out of there at any moment. Cloud's face softened a tiny amount before he bent down slowly and held out his hand, making clicking sounds with his tongue.

The cat quickly trotted over, seeking comfort. She purred like a HUMMER truck, rubbing against Cloud's hand to get him to pet her.

"Well aren't you pretty," Cloud muttered softly.

"Thanks, I try."

Both brothers turned to look at Axel sauntering into the hall. Cloud just rolled his eyes, amused, while Roxas glared. Once the redhead was close enough, he punched him hard in the bicep.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" he griped, rubbing his arm and giving the tiny blonde a wary look.

"_That_ was for leaving me to deal with_ that_," he pointed towards Cloud who was now picking up the calico and walking with her into the kitchen.

"Pfft, if things didn't seem like they weren't going well, I would have stepped in…besides, he looks tame enough." Axel gave cheeky grin.

Roxas saved himself from a wasted argument by walking away without replying. He could feel a twitch beginning in his eye.

He probably would have punched Axel again, if given the chance.

**TBC**

**

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**

End of chapter six! I actually planned it to be much longer, but God knows how many more months that would have taken, so be happy with what you got! Sorry this chapter is so lame and uninteresting, haha.

So, I found out a few weeks ago that one of my friends from school has a twin sister and they're Gemini's, haha! xD It made me day, and it also made me think of this story. I made some stupid joke like "so there's four of you?" because I am a dork. HA.

Anyways, I once again apologize for the delay. I know I promised a new chapter in December…and it is now March :/ one reader in particular who had been waiting for an update since my promised author's note messaged me and that is pretty much the reason chapter six is here xD it made me realize that people are indeed still reading my story and actually care what happens to it. Heh. So, thank you, to everyone who is sticking to _With My Life_! I can't promise there will be regular updates in the future, but it means a lot to me that you're still reading this :]

Also, I've been too lazy/busy to log in and reply to reviews, but starting with this chapter I will reply to ALL reviews again like I used to! Any reviews that are anonymous will be replied to at the end of the NEXT chapter.

**SORRY FOR ALL THE MEGA LONG NOTES BEFORE AND AFTER MY STORIES**. I'll work on toning it down in the future, haha.


	7. Chapter Seven: Very Busy People

I am incredily sorry it has taken almost a year to get a new chapter out. Right after the last chapter life got crazy, I lost internet and by the time I got it back my computer was screwed beyond belief. I now have spanking new laptop thanks to tax returns (would have been summer, but rent was more important than a new laptop :p). The story should be back on schedual even though school is pretty busy.

I hope those of you who still follow this fic enjoy this chapter. I need to go back and edit the first six o_o;

And no, I did not die or give up on _With My Life_.

* * *

**Chapter Seven:** Very Busy People

"ROXASROXASROXASROXAS!"

For the love of— couldn't a growing boy (yeah, right) get any sleep around here? Forget that it was almost four in the afternoon. Roxas enjoyed his naps.

The blonde teen groaned into his pillows as his brother busted into his room at full speed, slamming the door with a _BANG_ into the wall.

Roxas prepared himself accordingly, as he knew he should. Moments later Sora bounced onto his bed like a psychotic giant dog full of energy.

"…yes?" Roxas groaned crankily into his pillow.

"There's a cat! In the kitchen! Come see!"

Sora began pulling on his brothers' arm, eagerness flowing from his blue eyes. His blonde counterpart just slapped at his hands, trying to shove him away.

"I know; Axel and I brought her home. She's his cat, or something…and you're not allowed to feed or take care of her," Roxas peeked out from his pillows to give his twin a serious look.

Sora's face fell momentarily, before his expression brightened once again.

"Cloud says she's going to have kittens!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Roxas sat up, and started to get out of his bed, "Yeah, but did Cloud tell you you're not allowed to have one?"

Sora's face fell again, "…yes…"

The blonde boy smirked, and stretched, "Well then. What else did you barge in here for?"

Sora blinked, before grinning and becoming excited again. He followed Roxas, as the boy walked out of his room and down the hall.

"The girls are already making summer plans. They want to go to the beach, but some of us think it will be way too crowded, what with summer starting and everything…so Hayner suggested camping, and Riku wants to go to that spot on the river we found. So now a bunch of people want to go camping at our Secret River Spot (read: not so secret anymore…) this weekend. Do you wanna go?"

"Hell yeah, we want to go!" Axel spoke from behind, seemingly having materialized out of nowhere. Roxas had grown used to this by now; all of his bodyguards had to play shadow anytime he went pretty much anywhere (even in his own house). However, it didn't keep Sora from jumping a mile high as they walked to the kitchen.

"Jeez, Axel! Creepy much?"

The redhead smirked, tucking his hands in his jean pockets, "It's a way to keep things lively."

Roxas sighed and resisted the strong urge to say something snarky. Instead, he began to scavenge through the refrigerator for food.

"So do you want to go?" His brother repeated.

Roxas shrugged as he pulled out a jar of raspberry jelly, "Sure, why not."

Sora and Axel did a complicated high five that Roxas pretended not to notice as he made himself a PB&J sandwich.

"Camping, right?" He asked, spreading a small amount of peanut butter on a piece of bread.

"Mnhm," Sora mumbled. He took a seat at the kitchen island. "Make me one of those too? Grape jelly, please."

"Uhh, if we have any…" his twin muttered, opening and searching the fridge.

"You don't," Axel replied, "Riku finished the grape jelly off a few days ago, and Cloud hasn't gotten around to buying a new jar."

"Those greedy bastards," Sora said, scandalized, while hopping off of his stool. He walked out of the kitchen without looking back.

"Okay….no PB&J for _him_ then," The blonde haired teen muttered, slightly irritated.

Axel leaned his lanky frame against the kitchen island, watching Roxas. "I'll have it. I don't mind raspberry."

Roxas nodded and set out to finish making the second sandwich. An awkward silence began to fill the air, and Roxas felt like he would suffocate from the pressure to make idle conversation. It was stupid, really. He wanted to quit being stubborn and start being somewhat approachable, but old habits seemed to die hard. He had to be distant enough that he didn't get attached, but social enough that he wasn't a complete asshole. It would be easier if he could have a strictly business relationship with the redheaded young man, but Axel seemed hell bent on making friends, much to Roxas' chagrin.

Roxas cut both sandwich's in half and placed them on separate plates.

A weighty sigh escaped his lips as he set a plate down in front of his bodyguard.

Axel picked up one of the half's, and spoke before taking a bite: "What's got you so vocal today? Jeez, you've just about talked my ear off. Take some time to shut up; I'm sure your lungs will thank you for it."

The smaller teenager resisted the urge to smile, before his expression turned downwards.

"I don't like you," Roxas said.

Axel chewed and looked at the blonde thoughtfully. "And here I thought we were starting to become the best of friends, Roxie."

When Roxas' walls didn't crack, Axel gave a sigh of his own and set his sandwich back on the plate, giving his charge his full attention.

"All right, what's eating you?"

Roxas gave another dramatic huff of air before slouching onto one of the stools, "It's just…I don't _want_ to be _friends_ with you, but you make it so hard! I want to be professional around you, and stop being such a jerk, but you're so…argh!"

_Very articulate, Roxas. You've taken the gold for that one_.

"I see…" the redhead began, "Well, maybe I don't _want_ to be your friend, did you ever think of _that_?"

_Ouch_. Roxas thought, visibly flinching and straightening up in his seat.

"Oh yeah, that's right, I said it," Axel now had a snooty air about him, and Roxas was beginning to frown, not sure where this was going.

"I don't ever want to be your friend Roxas. Who would? You're a snotty, rich, pompous little poop (_Poop_? Roxas mentally snickered at the redhead using such a word), why would anyone want to be friends with _you_?"

Roxas opened his mouth to interrupt, or maybe protest, but was cut off.

"Oh no, if I wanted to be anything with you, it would be to have a companionable disposition between the two of us."

The blonde teen frowned, confused. He was becoming more and more irritated. "That's…like, text book definition of what a friend _is_."

Axel grinned slyly, and that just confused Roxas more.

"I don't want to be friends with you either, Roxas. So maybe we can make up our own form of…friendliness, if you will. You don't want to be friends with me, and I respect that. You have a lot of issues—"

"Hey—!"

"—to do with bodyguards, so I understand why you don't want to be friendly, but that's not going to stop my personality from automatically being sociable. So, maybe we should make up our own type of friendship—that _isn't_ friendship of course."

Roxas didn't know what to say, and he obviously didn't have current control over the muscles in his face, because he mouth was hanging open and he had the dumbest look possible on his features.

"I…you're crazy," The smaller teen replied as he began rubbing his face, trying to make sense of everything. "I _can't_ be friends with you, Axel. You're going to…and then I'll…"

He let the unspoken words run between them, both understanding what he meant. Axel released a hefty sigh, and leaned on the counter, a thoughtful expression on his face. Roxas sat on his stool, mentally beating himself up. He didn't _want_ to have this conversation now…hell, he didn't want to have it _ever_! Yet here he was, sounding more and more idiotic by the second. It was like he couldn't decide what he wanted from himself.

"Alright, how about this," the redhead began, "We won't be friends. Obviously I'm still your bodyguard, and you don't want anything to do with me, so instead of friends we'll be People Who Mutually Respect and Humor One Another. Yeah?"

Roxas gave a sigh of his own, and massaged the bridge of his nose, as if to put off an oncoming headache. "Axel…that's pretty much what friends _are_…"

Axel grinned and waggled a finger, "No, no! There is no word "friends" in that title, so we can't possibly be friends! You don't want to be friends, so we shall be People Who Mutually Respect and Humor One Another, whether you like it or not! So if people ask if we're friends, you can still tell them no, because that is absolutely not what we are. You don't have to decide right now if you want to be that. I can wait, I'm patient."

Roxas groaned and resisted the insane urge to laugh. He went back to rubbing his face, as if that would take him away from the situation.

"I hate you so much right now. You are so…ridiculous. What the hell is wrong with Cloud, hiring a nutcase like _you_?"

The taller boy grinned.

"Aww, don't pretend Roxie, I know deep, _deep_ down you love me with a fiery passion and would never be able to part ways with me, given the chance," Axel cackled as he dodged an apple thrown at him.

Roxas was getting more ammunition from the fruit bowl stationed on the kitchen island when Sora skidded into the room.

He paused as he looked between Axel and Roxas.

Roxas was looking back at him, but frozen in a position with an arm above his head, holding an orange, and the other hand in the fruit bowl. Axel was crouched down slightly, and had his hands risen in front of his face to protect himself. He was laughing hysterically.

"Uhh…what's going on with the food fight, Roxas?"

Sora leaned against the doorway, smiling. It was nice to see Roxas not scowling for once. Even if his expression _now_ was Severe Irritation, it was better than that mopey frown.

"Ohhh, Sora!" Axel cried out, like a damsel in distress, running towards the brunette, and bending down to hug and cradle his head. "Roxas is being so abusive today! He keeps trying to assault me with perishable food items!"

"Shut up, you fool!" Roxas chucked the orange at his head, mentally congratulating himself when it made contact.

Laughing, Sora wiggled his way out of the redheads grasp.

"Hey, I don't want to get hit with anything, so cut it out! Anyways, I came in here to tell you that Cloud said it was fine if we went camping, but that it's our job to find the tents and stuff in the garage. I want to get that done soon though, instead of scrambling to get everything ready the day before we leave, ok? So tomorrow we're going to go through the garage."

"Fine, fine, just make a list of what I need to bring and give it to me. We should probably bring some snackage and stuff. How long are we going to be camping?"

Sora sat on a stool, and leaned on the island.

"Yeah, we should go shopping tomorrow too…I think Hayner said to get there around noon on Friday, and we'd probably stay until Sunday or Monday. It really depends on how bored or entertained we are while there," Sora shrugged, "The girls were talking about bringing board games and volley balls and thing like that…"

Roxas smiled a very small smile.

"Board games? They're going to be full of sand by the time we leave."

Sora laughed and shrugged again, "I know, that's what I told Kairi, but she insisted," Sora's attention turned to Axel, "Cloud reminded me to ask you, because he knows Roxas won't, if you want to invite any of your friends so that you don't feel too lonely hanging out with a bunch of 'kids'—as he put it— (Sora pouted), you should."

Axel laughed and nodded, "Sure. I bet Demyx would love to go..he loves water! I'm sure some others might too. Thanks for the offer."

"No problem!" The brunette hopped off his stool and began to walk out of the kitchen, stopping in the doorway, "Oh yeah! Cloud wanted us to clean out the pool some time this week."

Roxas' face dropped, "Whaaatt?" He whined.

"He said he wasn't going to waste money on a pool cleaner, when we're perfectly capable of cleaning it our selves," Sora grinned in amusement.

"Cloud is such a jerk. Like he'd ever clean the pool himself if he had to," the blonde griped. Sora walked out laughing quietly.

Axel snuck up behind his charge, "Awww, poor little rich boy~!" He crooned.

He was awarded with a smack to the face.

Over the next few days, the young men in the Strife household had gathered all the camping necessities from sun-block, to tents, to enough food for a month. They'd most likely have eaten half of it by the time they got there.

Sora was busy packing the four-door truck they were borrowing from Sephiroth (the truck had been bought for this specific reason: camping), while Roxas and Riku argued about who was driving. Axel was busy rubbing Miss S.K.'s pregnant belly as she rolled around in the grass on the front lawn.

The small teen finished shoving the last grocery bag of food into the back of the canopy covered bed of the truck.

"Is that all?" He asked, turning around with his hands on his hips and a goofy grin on his face.

Riku was busy holding the keys over Roxas' head as the small blonde tried to snatch them from the taller boys grasp, grunting his dislike of the situation under his breath.

"I think so," Riku replied.

"Axel! Help me! What kind of bodyguard are you?"

Axe looked over from his leisurely position on the lawn, "If he's not physically harming you, or making an attempt at your life, I have no legal responsibility to step in and stop him. Besides, I'd probably be doing the same thing."

Roxas growled angrily while Axel and Riku laughed. Sora rolled his eyes. He walked up behind Riku and ran his fingers quickly along the taller boys' ribs.

Riku squealed with a very girly quality, quickly whipping his arms down and dropping the keys into Roxas' outstretched fingers in the process.

With a cry of victory, Roxas made a beeline for the driver's seat, before hopping in the car and locking the door behind him.

Riku rubbed his ribs, and gave Sora a look of deepest betrayal, "That was _low_ Sora, very low."

The other boy smirked and patted Riku on the back.

"You left yourself wiiide open with the way you had your arms all in the air. You should have expected it," And with that, Sora walked off to seat himself in the front passenger seat, leaving Axel and Riku to the backseats.

Once everyone was in the car, Roxas pulled out of the driveway and out onto the street.

"Is there anything else we needed to pick up before we leave?" He asked.

The boys in the back shook their heads, while Sora replied "No."

Roxas smiled as he turned out onto the main rode, watching out for other cars.

"By the way Sora, nice save."

"I know," his twin laughed, "That's what Riku gets for wrongly taking advantage of _our_ height."

"_Hey_, tickling is _wrong_ and should be punishable by law," the silver haired boy pointed out, his expression a bit moody.

"Sora was right; you left yourself wide open," Axel added.

"Yeah, yeah…" Riku grumbled, "Just you wait 'til we get out of the truck, Sora."

"Ohhh, I'm _so scared_!" Sora mocked. He laughed like a little kid when Riku kicked the back of his seat, hard.

"You should be."

"You know, I _could_ sing some _really_ obnoxious songs reaaally loud if I wanted…if you're not nice to me."

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, RIKU, BE NICE TO SORA," Roxas dramatically yelled, watching the road carefully, a small smile on his face. His expression betrayed his words; he actually wanted Sora to sing. It would be hilarious to watch Riku suffer. Sora was very good at the obnoxious little kid routine.

Because Riku wasn't one to be told what to do, in any situation, he kicked the back of Sora's seat again.

Sora immediately launched into the most-sung-off-key rendition of the song "Superstar", by a band Axel didn't know about, but Roxas verified it to be "Toy-Box".

Axel and Roxas found the situation highly amusing, while Riku kicked harder and yelled in supposed agony, obviously regretting his decision.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Roxas parked in the parking lot, and Riku leapt out of the truck, with a cry of triumphant glee, happy to have escaped the car.

Once they were all out of the truck, Roxas locked the doors.

"Alright, let's get all the stuff and carry it down. Do you think we'll need to make more than one trip, Sora?" His brother shook his head 'no' and he nodded, opening up the canopy window, and the door to the bed of the truck.

The four boys' grabbed out everything they would need before Roxas closed everything back up, locked it, and turned on the alarm.

"Sooo, why are we at the park?" Axel asked, looking around.

On one side of the parking lot you could see large grassy field full of people, and children's park not too far away, and on the other side (down a bit of a hill) was what looked like it would have been a river, but the water was very low and full of rocks big and small. Not something you could swim in, but plenty of parents were down there with small children playing in the water, or sun bathing.

"We're not going to be hanging out here. Where we're going is waaaay down the river, so we have to walk for a while, through the backs trails and stuff. Not many people really venture this far down the river…it's too much of a hassle. People usually go in the other direction of the river to swim, but our swimming spot is kind of a well known secret spot. It's awesome; you'll see it when we get there!" Sora bounced around excitedly as he lugged all his gear through the parking lot and down the steep hill towards the river.

The rest of the boys followed as Sora led the way down the path, through the trees and bushes along side the river.

The weather had definitely heated up during the week, and Axel was dying to get in the water. It was barely past noon, and it felt like it was two thousand degrees. Their bags of food and clothes, and their tents had begun to feel heavier than they actually were, and they were starting to sweat.

The narrow trail was tricky to navigate and both Sora and Roxas proved that being clumsy was hereditary as they tripped over the _exact_ same root, one after the other.

"Dude, if we don't get there soon, I swear I'm going to make camp right here!" Axel groaned.

"We're almost there," Sora puffed back at him, trotting down a steep less-than-two-foot hill, before limberly climbing up a large dusty hill, followed by the other three.

Once at the top, Sora threw up his arms, and cried, "We're here!"

They stopped in the large clearing surrounded by foliage. Directly in front of them they could see a thick rope, attached to the branch of a tree that hung out over the river. On the other side of the river they could see Pence, and Olette setting up a tent.

To there left Hayner came up a small hill, grinning, wet, and in only green camouflage swim trunks.

"Hey, perfect timing! I was just about to jump in again, but I can help you guys carry your stuff across, if you want."

The four nodded, and set down all their stuff. Hayner grabbed a few of the grocery bags and made his way back down the hill, calling back "Get in your trunks, there's more than one floatie thing, so you guys can help out too!

What Hayner had failed to notice was that they were already in their swimwear, so all they did was take off their shoes and shirts and store them in their bags. They picked their gear back up, and followed where Hayner had disappeared to, to find him down on a rock connected to the bank that trailed off into the river.

He was placing bags of groceries on one out of the three floating flat lounges before he slipped into the shallow water. He slowly went across the river, making sure the lounge stayed a float and none of the bags got wet.

Meanwhile, Sora and Riku began loading their gear onto the floaties, chatting idly, and leaving them on the banks before heading back up the small hill into the clearing. Moments later Roxas and Axel heard large splashes and Sora's cries as they jumped into the water.

"Holy _shit_, it's cold!"

Axel laughed, and Roxas smirked as they watched the other two boys circle back to their floaties, their hair flattened, pulling them gently into the water to take them over to the other side. It was an awkward and dangerous struggle, and Sora almost lost his sleeping bag twice to the current, but they made it across. Thankfully they were treading the shallow waters, and not the deeper areas a few feet away.

Sora and Riku stayed to set up one of the tents as Hayner swam back across with two of the floats.

Axel and Roxas quickly situated their belongings on their respective modes of transportation, before mimicking Sora and Riku and walking the few feet back up the small hill into the clearing.

Roxas leaned over the edge and looked down. The water looked cold as fuck, but he was hot as hell. He was preparing to back up to run and jump, when suddenly he felt arms around his waist and out of nowhere he was unwillingly going over the edge with Axel, and into the frigid water.

Before he could cry out, or even think to hold his breath, he was under the water, and he could only think of how cold it was, and how deep they had reached. This part of the river was at _least_ ten to thirteen feet deep, and Roxas could never reach the bottom on his own. Not even when he tried to touch the bottom on purpose. He was too short, and weighed too little. However, with the aid of Axel, they both easily reached the sandy bottom.

Still holding him around the waist, Axel quickly kicked off from the river floor, and propelled them to the surface. He pushed Roxas up farther than himself and let go so Roxas could swim on his own.

When the blonde teen broke the surface of the river, he began sputtering and choking, and looking for Axel. As soon as the redhead popped up, a mad grin on his face, Roxas began splashing at him maniacally.

"Are—" Splash! "You—" Smack! "Fucking—" Another splash! "Insane?"

Axel cackled, swimming away frantically as Roxas attempted to drown him.

"You are such a JERK! ARRGH!" Roxas pulled the other teens hair, causing Axel to yelp and go under, before swimming over him, making sure to kick him in the head as he went.

A few minutes later, both the boys reached their floaties, and Roxas was still scowling and frowning like a little child.

"Aww, c'mon Roxie~! You gotta admit, that was pretty fun," Axel winked at him, trying to lighten up the mood as he pushed his gear across and against the current.

He snorted, "Some bodyguard you are! Trying to drown me...if you want your next paycheck, you sure are doing it wrong!"

Axel looked over, expecting the same sour expression he usually saw, but was delighted to see that Roxas was smirking…the closest thing he was probably ever going to get to Roxas admitting he enjoyed it.

The redhead grinned, his usual spikes hanging limp in his face with water weight. Hell, something was better than nothing! He'd get Roxas to admit he enjoyed Axel's company eventually.

* * *

"Duuude, I am pooped!" Sora cried out after successfully setting up the tent he'd started forty-five minutes ago. Riku had asked if he could help, but Sora refused. After Roxas and Axel made it to the other side of the bank, they had begun setting up the gear they had. With their teamwork they had the tent they brought over set up in a little less than fifteen minutes. Even if most of that time was spent bickering.

Sora crawled into the tent with his sleeping bag, backpack, and a few of the bags of food, soon followed by Riku with his own things.

"Man you're slow," The silver haired boy muttered, unrolling his sleeping bag and laying it out.

"DEMYYY!" Axel suddenly screamed, causing Sora and Riku to peek outside their tent.

Axel was running into the water, trying to make his way across the river to the other side.

"How'd they find this place?" Asked Riku, squinting in the sun

"Roxas went to go meet up with them at the parking lot," Kairi replied as she sat down in the sand in front of the boys' tent. She had arrived about fifteen minutes earlier with Naminé and Zexion, who didn't look too excited to be in the sun. Moments after his arrival, he found the shadiest spot possible, slathered up with as much sunscreen as he could handle, and buried himself into a large book.

"Who are all those people?" Sora asked curiously, as he stared at the new comers on the other bank chatting with Roxas. Once Axel had made it across and up the small slope onto the clearing, he tackled what appeared to be a blonde guy with a Mohawk.

Kairi shrugged, adjusting her pink bathing suit top, "I don't know who all of them are, but I know the one that he's currently humping is his best friend: Demyx."

Sora laughed while Riku snorted.

"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting he's your cousin. That's so weird…how come we've never met him before?"

Kairi shrugged again, "He always lived kind of far away growing up, so Reno and I never saw him much until he started training with our dad. He was always more of Reno's friend than mine though. Guess it's because I'm a girl," She stuck out her tongue with a grin.

Sora hummed softly, watching the people across the river slowly make their way over it. Not long after, introductions were being made between everyone.

Axel introduced the three friends he brought along as Demyx— the boy with the interesting mullet-Mohawk combination, Larxene— a platinum blonde girl with two pieces of hair that stuck out from the top of her head like antennas, and Marluxia— a tall, feminine man with long, loud rose petal pink hair.

Once introductions were made all around, Pence and Larxene agreed to set up the barbeques (God knew how they had gotten those across the river) while the new arrivals set up the tents and the others had free time to mess around or chat.

Roxas walked along the bank, followed by Axel, his brother, Riku, Zexion, Demyx, and Naminé, leading them back to the park without having to cross the river, so in the middle of the night if they to go to the bathroom or get back to their car, they wouldn't drown (anyone else who needed to know this route would be shown later).

As soon as the group could see the parking lot, they crossed the less-than-ankle-deep water and made their way up the hill.

"Alright, that's how you get to the bathrooms if you need to go in the middle of the night. You should take a flash light and at least a cell phone if you're not willing to bring a buddy," Roxas stated as most of the group split off to either go to said restrooms, or go back to their cars to get extra items they needed.

"So, why couldn't we take that route to get to your not-so-secret-spot?" Axel asked his charge.

"Because...I dunno, ask Sora?"

Axel rolled his eyes, "Well it was a hell of a lot less annoying to walk on."

"Yeah, but from the park to about halfway down it's all rocks and not sand, and I don't think Sora likes walking on it," Replied Roxas.

Axel hummed in understanding.

"I suppose…you guys would have probably fallen a lot more on those rocks than on the trail."

Roxas shot his bodyguard a look but didn't reply.

Zexion was the first to arrive back, followed closely by Demyx who had, what Roxas assumed to be, a guitar strapped to his back.

Axel quirked an eye brow at what Zexion was carrying, "_More_ sunscreen? Jeez, did you already use up that last bottle?"

The small boys face flushed, and his hair fell into his face more than usual, but his body language stayed strong.

"I burn easily," He muttered. His thin, pale fingers fiddled with the bottom of his t-shirt as he scowled.

Demyx rolled his eyes, his easy going smile playing on his face as he elbowed his best friend.

"Quit teasing the kid, Ax."

"God, you just don't know when to keep that gaping-tunnel-of-idiocy-you-call-a-mouth shut, do you?

"Aww, Roxiiie, you're being so mean today," Axel whined, while Demyx laughed.

Roxas frowned, looking at the boy with an expression of confusion: "What's so funny?"

"You're just as feisty as I remember. I thought maybe you'd been such a firecracker because you were super hung over. It's awesome! It makes me want to pinch your little cheeks!" The older teen continued to giggle while Axel grinned and Roxas resisted the strong urge to snort in disbelief.

Barely.

Not long after, the others joined them and they were able to make their way back to their camping spot, with little to no difficulty.

"Uggh. I've been out of the water so long, I'm completely dry again," griped Demyx.

He was the first one to take off when they neared the clearing and leap over the edge, totally by passing the rope-swing. He did, however, leave his guitar next to the tree that the rope was hanging off of.

Naminé giggled gently, "He's so full of energy!"

She slipped her dry light blue over-shirt off before jumping in the water. Sora stood chatting with Zexion and Roxas as Riku yelled for Kairi to come to the other bank.

The young redhead waded across the shallow area before climbing onto the bank and up the short dusty hill to join the others.

"Yeah, what did you want, Riku?"

"Oh nothing," He said nonchalantly before hoisting her quickly over his shoulder, and hurriedly walking over to the ledge of the clearing over the river.

"NO! Riku! Ahh, don't, don't, please!" Kairi cried, attempting to sound serious as she laughed and screamed. Everyone watched, amused as he threw her over the edge, her scream being cut off as she went under.

Quick as a flash Riku had Sora around the waist and was lugging him across and over to the edge as well.

"Riku, I swear to God if you don't put me down I'm going to—"

_SPLASH._

Too late.

"Riku, you jerk!" Kairi called up, none too serious as she attempted to splash Riku from the eight foot drop down into the water below the small cliff he resided on. Riku just waved down at her with a grin, giving Zexion time to set his sun screen down and take off his shirt before he tossed the smaller teen in as well.

He went down with a surprised cry, having been fully prepared to jump in on his own volition. Apparently he hadn't been going fast enough in Riku's opinion.

When he resurfaced his hair was completely covering his face, and it was so wet that he couldn't breathe through it. He coughed as he flipped it back out of his face, only to yelp when he opened his eyes.

Demyx was scary-close and it had surprised him into another choking fit. The sandy blonde boy laughed, his Mohawk slightly limp.

"You alright?" He asked, flicking a tiny amount of water at the boy. Zexion gave a small cough in response, causing Demyx's grin to widen.

Riku looked back to see who else was left.

Roxas put his hands in the air as if to say "Hey man, no problems here."

When Riku moved as if he was about to grab him, Roxas gave a high pitched "Eeep!" and dashed over the edge and into the water by himself. Riku grinned, liking his level of intimidation.

The silver haired boy turned around once again and stared at Axel. Both men sized each other up before Riku grinned and gave a quick shrug before running and leaping over the edge with a wild cry.

Axel laughed boisterously.

"That's right! I'm King of the Mountain!" He cried out victoriously.

Suddenly he felt himself shoved from behind roughly, and with a startled cry, he too fell over the edge and into the river.

When he surfaced he was greeted with the sound of laughter, and the sight of his younger cousin grinning down at him, her hands on her hips.

"What the hell! How did you get up there? I didn't even see you!"

Her grin widened, "There's a way up onto the bank on the other side of the tree. It's really steep and slippery, so not a lot of people use it," She stated with a wink, "_Now_ who is King of the Mountain?"

"You, oh Mightiest Kairi!" Sora called. His friend bowed a few times, giving a princess wave before leaping back into the river below.

Zexion and Roxas quietly slipped out of the river (Zexion retrieved his shirt and brought it over to the other bank safely) and settled down in a shady area to chat while the others continued to horse around in the water.

Naminé soon followed and joined the two boys in their chat, watching Pence and Larxene fiddle with the barbeques. Marluxia stood near by.

"He's so pretty," Naminé sighed, "I just want to draw him." She had that dreamy look on her face that she got when she was feeling particularly artistic.

Larxene, not far away, over heard and turned, grinning: "Oh he'd just _love_ that. Wouldn't you Marly?"

"Wouldn't I what?" He called back, busy grabbing the hot dogs and hamburger meat from one of the coolers.

"Wouldn't you love to be drawn?"

The pink haired man gave a devilishly seductive grin, looking over at Naminé, whose expression was surprisingly not embarrassed.

"Oh my, and bring out the narcissist in me? I could never…" He grinned and winked, passing the meats to Pence. Naminé laughed and shook her head, leaning against Roxas who was smirking.

"You like him, don't you?"

She sighed, "Oh yes. But he's so very, very gay."

"No," Zexion drawled, flipping a page from the book he'd grabbed idly, "What could have possibly given it away? Not that flaming pink hair of his. Nuh-uh."

Roxas laughed, and elbowed his friend, while Naminé stuck her tongue out playfully.

"You're just jealous that your purple hair has been upstaged."

"I'll have you know this is my _natural_ hair color," He stated somewhat offended.

"Prove it," Naminé challenged.

"_No one_ is going to prove _anything_ because I don't feel like seeing anyone's pubes," Roxas said, ending the discussion.

Suddenly one of the barbeques shot up a large plume of flame, causing Pence to shriek, and Larxene to laugh maniacally.

"WHOO! Burn, baby, burn!" Axel called from the river, "Do it again!"

"No way!" Pence called back, once the momentary fire had died down.

With the barbeques under control, everyone settled back down, and soon everyone was trudging out of the river to dry off.

Axel wrapped himself in a large towel, and lay near Roxas, making sure to fling water from his wet hair onto his charge. Roxas grumbled and attempted to shove the redhead away, but to no avail.

"Sorry, babe, but you're stuck with me until the day I die, or the day you're no longer being attacked by psychos. I don't see either happening any time soon."

Roxas rolled his eyes, "That's what _you_ think."

Axel looked up at Roxas from his position lying next to the boy.

"You are just full of sass today, you know that?"

"He's just cranky because he's hungry," Sora stated, sitting next to Naminé with a bag of chips, taking a handful before passing it along.

"Seriously," Riku agreed, laying out a large blanket, before sitting on it, "When is the food going to be done? What time is it?"

Everyone scooted onto the blanket.

"Whenever they get those barbeques to work, without lighting everything on fire? And it's almost four-thirty," Answered Zexion, closing his book so he could grab a handful of chips. Pretty soon everyone was on the large blanket except Pence and Larxene, for they were still cooking.

Idle chatter between the teens went on for another twenty minutes, along with munching before Pence gave a happy cry of triumph, as he began passing around plates with hotdogs and hamburgers to the respective eaters, indicating toppings and condiments on top of one of the coolers.

Marluxia opened one of the coolers in the shade, and turned around, "Oh yeah, I brought beer!" He pointed out happily, which was followed by a few cheers.

With food finally circulating in his stomach, Roxas was less crabby. Pence was allowed to eat while Larxene cooked the seconds, sitting down next to Olette.

"No swimming for a half hour!" Olette announced like the mother hen she was.

Several nods and grunts of consent were her only answer and she smiled.

The comfortable chattering started up again as everyone ate. The food was good and the company was even better. Everyone was enjoying themselves; even Roxas was content until Axel held out a bottle of beer to him.

He felt his stomach churn and he knew his face had turned an unhealthy color by the way Axel was staring at him, "I'll take that as a _no_," He muttered with a chuckle, taking the beer for himself.

"Hmm, do you think this beach is wide enough to play some volley-ball or something?" Kairi asked idly, taking a bite of her burger.

"_I_ think it's fine," Demyx replied, gaining a few nods of agreements from Hayner, Axel, Olette, and Naminé.

Pence hummed, "We should play a game or two after everyone is done eating."

"Yeah, and then after that Pence and I can build the fire pit while the rest of you swim or something. Then later tonight we can roast marshmallows and stuff," Hayner grinned goofily just thinking about it.

"But wait…we don't have a net!"

Naminé smiled, "Yes we do, Hayner brought his beach net, all we have to do is set it up, and put some weight near the ends to keep it from moving."

There were some nods of agreement at the idea.

Sora popped up from his seat in the sand.

"Well, I'm done, where's the ball?"

* * *

Uhhh, this chapter was intended to be a thousand times longer, but I figured if I took the time to make it its original length people would kill me, haha.

Once again sorry this was so late. Oh well. Once I get to chapter ten I'm going to go back and edit the chapters and post them on my livejournal meant for fanfics in case anyone is interested :p

I'm also posting two new stories to make up for how long this is taking, later this week! On is a one-shot and the other is a somewhat short story.

Enjoy lovies.

Hahaha, can you tell the beginning and endings A/N's were written months and months apart? xD


	8. Chapter Eight: Personal Smile

Hey there, been a while, this chapter was a bitch, yadda yadda. School will be out soon and I'll be able to write more. I'm working on _Road to Recovery_ chapter three, and trying to work on finishing that one-two shot I have set up for all you beautiful people that have stuck with me through _With My Life_. I need a little encouragement :T

* * *

**Chapter Eight:** Personal Smile

He was gasping for breath, his skin caked with sweat, chunks of blonde hair stuck to his forehead while a husky voice spoke to him from ahead.

"What, already out of stamina, Roxie? Who knew you'd only last for so little time," The haughty red head smirked, face unbearably close.

"Shut up," Roxas groaned, wanting more than anything to escape. His whole body felt as if it were going to melt into a sticky pile of goop. The faint sound of skin slapping reached his ears, nearly drowned out by the blood rushing through his body from exertion.

Axel chuckled, his hands reaching out to grasp—

Blue eyes widened in delighted surprise.

"Hey, HEY! His hands are on the net! They're on the FUCKING NET! That's a foul! Marluxia, that's a fucking foul!" Roxas was pointing madly at Axel, who had his fingers tangled smugly in the net as his smirked down at his charge from the opposite side. (1)

Players on both sides of the net groaned in exasperation. Ever since teams had been picked (and Marluxia appointed referee) Roxas and Axel had been in an all out duel the entire game, attempting to outscore the other. It was both frustrating and amusing. Axel had the advantage of height and could block well, while Roxas was quick and a powerful attacker. Yet however good of an attack Roxas made, Axel always returned it. Roxas had been grinding his teeth down to nubs for a better part of the game.

Axel had been enjoying taunting him, which only made the smaller young man more irritable.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention, carry on," Marluxia drawled, his eyes till glued to the magazine he was reading. He waved his hand in dismissal, still not looking up.

Roxas' jaw dropped. Worst. Referee. Ever.

Several people laughed, including Axel, who winked and let go of the net while taking a few steps back.

"C'mon Roxas, quit fooling around!" Hayner yelled from the back.

His mouth flapped uselessly as he pointed to Axel angrily. It wasn't _him_ who had broken a rule in the middle of the game. Before he could go ballistic Naminé placed a gentle hand on his forearm reassuringly. He calmed some at her touch and sighed, turning back to the net, sticking his tongue out at Axel.

"Oh, real mature," snorted Sora who was standing next to the redhead.

Roxas exposed his tongue to him too.

"Are we going to play or not?" Riku spoke up from the back, ball in hand. A few grunts of agreement later the ball was back in the air sailing towards Demyx who received it, allowing Olette to set it to Axel.

Grinning arrogantly he spiked it straight at Roxas.

The blonde was prepared for this, and was ready to receive it, tossing it over to Kairi on the other side of Namine, who tossed it back to him, just as he wanted.

Leaping into the air, he smacked it with all his strength over the net at Axel. His smirk of triumph soon faded when Axel dodged the ball entirely and it collided into an unsuspecting Zexion's face…_hard_.

Several people cried out, including the victim and perpetrator.

"Argh!" The slate haired boy shouted, hands clapping over his nose as he dropped to his knees in the sand.

Roxas ducked under the net and slid through sand in front of Zexion, trying to assess the damage as he apologized:

"Holy shit, Zexion, I'm _so sorry_! Oh God—are you alright? Fuck, I'm sorry!"

He wasn't sure exactly what to do, spending a few awkward moments wondering if Zexion would be pissed if he touched him, but eventually settled on grabbing his shoulder to try and lift the other boys face up to asses the damage.

Zexion's eyes were watered, and his hands still covered a large majority of his face as people began crowding around the two small teens. A lot of what Roxas had already said was repeated by different people. Mostly Sora.

The slate haired boy pulled his hands away, revealing a blood face and fingers.

"I'm bine," he said as blood dribbled over—and probably into— his mouth, "Izz jus' bain."

Roxas didn't want to, he really, _really_ didn't, but he laughed at Zexion's words. Even injured and probably embarrassed Zexion still had enough of an attitude to be snarky.

"Alright, everyone back up," Marluxia spoke, slowly herding the people away from the injured boy's bubble, "Let's get you cleaned up. I think that's enough volley-ball for today."

Slowly people walked away to give them room as Marluxia took Zexion the few feet down to the river to help him wash his face. Roxas followed, so that meant Axel followed as well.

"I'm seriously really sorry, Zexion. I was aiming for Axel, but he moved," Roxas shot the redhead a powerful look.

Zexion just nodded as he splashed river water onto his face, listening for the spots where Marluxia told him to scrub. A few moments of fretting and cleaning later, Marluxia was tilting Zexions head up and staring into his nostrils.

"Well, the bleeding seems to have stopped pretty quickly, so I think you'll be fine. A bit sore, but you'll survive," The pink haired man smiled, and patted Zexions shoulder before standing up. Zexion grimaced back.

As Marluxia walked away, another took his place in the form of Demyx. The new comer smiled and crouched down in front of the once bloody teen. He held out a hotdog bun bag filled with ice.

"Here, I hope it helps. That was quite a shot you took there," Demyx grinned. Roxas fretted some more and was tempted to apologize for the billionth since the incident occured.

The corner of Zexion's mouth twitched up as he began to dab at his face with the make-shift ice pack, "Thank you," he muttered. Demyx's eyes crinkled as he smiled even more before standing.

"No problem."

The sandy blonde waved as he walked away, leaving Roxas to apologize one more time before he too walked away, followed by his keeper. When they were far enough away the blonde turned around and socked Axel hard in the arm.

"_Ow_! Damn, Roxie! What was that for?" he rubbed his arm while wincing.

"_That_ was for being the world's biggest jerk! Why did you dodge the ball? You made me hit Zexion!"

Axel rolled his eyes, "Sorry, I didn't know you planned on going all crazy-monster on the ball."

Roxas glared and stomped back down to the river, in a sour mood as per the usual when exposed to too much Axel.

His keeper sighed, rolled his eyes dramatically before following the bitchy blonde down the bank and into the water. The red head swam to the opposite bank, preparing to jump from the rope tied to the tree near the ledge. He figured Roxas could watch himself for five minutes, and that it would also be enough time for the short tempered boy to cool off.

Meanwhile Roxas swam sulkily in place of the flowing river. Already he was feeling bad about going off on his body guard. Sure the guy drove him nuts, and there was no end to his obnoxious levels, but that was no reason to treat him like shit.

As the shame and embarrassment in Roxas rose, the more he wished he could drown himself. Instead, he watched jealously as Axel had fun swinging off of the rope swing and into the water, quickly followed by a squealing Demyx.

"Hey Rox, come over here!" Sora cried to his left.

Roxas looked over and saw his brother waving from one of the giant boulder-islands in the middle of the small river. There were two distinct boulders in this section of the river. One was oval shaped and smaller, and the other—less than two feet away—was more of a wonky diamond shape at best. Both were flattish on top and rose above the waters surface, for the most part. The rocks weren't smooth at all, and were a bit painful at times to rest on, but their most used function was for sunbathing or rest.

Sora squatted on the oval one, with Riku behind him. Their rock could fit about four people.

Roxas allowed the current to carry him towards the rocks before latching on to one, "Yes?"

His twin smiled goofily, "You ok? You seem kind of bummed over there all by yourself."

Roxas' eyes cut over to the jump off point as Namine shrieked her way happily over the edge and into the river.

"It's nothing to worry about," he mumbled. Sora pursed his lips before patting the rock, indicating Roxas should join them. His brother complied and climbed onto the rock, scraping his hands and knees as he went.

The blonde sighed once he settled in to a spot and leaned back, absorbing the hot summer sun. His tense muscles were finally beginning to relax when ice cold water was splashed onto his drying skin. Snapping his eyes open with a shocked gasp, he was prepared to go off on the perpetrator but paused after seeing who it was.

"Zexion?"

The male in question gave a small and mischievous smile, not known for him to make.

"Revenge," was the boys answer. Roxas smirked. With his legs still in the water he kicked playfully at the slate haired boy who had no where to metaphorically run.

"How's your face?" he asked through the small splashes he sent Zexion's way.

"It's fine," Zexion replied before he swam and lifted himself onto the opposite rock, "The ice helped."

The small, shy smile on his face didn't go unnoticed by the blonde, who just grinned back. The four boys sat in content silence for a while, idly chatting here and there, or taking a quick dip back into the water if they became too hot. However, it wasn't long before the peace was interrupted.

"Hayner, cut that out, don't be stupid! You could really hurt yourself!"

Roxas cracked his eyes open lazily, looking to Olette who had yelled up above at the jump off point. He steadily followed her gaze to the tree with the rope, only to follow higher up to Hayner…who was currently climbing said tree. _This can't be good_, he thought with a wry smile.

Hayner continued to climb up a few more limbs, and continued to ignore Olette's commands to get down. Once the teen had deemed himself high enough, he stuck his tongue out at Olette before jumping out of the tree and into the water below, much to the pleasure of the rest of the crowd.

After a few moments of submersion, Hayner surfaced with a grin before cat calling, "That was _awesome_!"

Olette seemed to be the only one who thought the stunt was dangerous, and proceeded to bitch to Hayner the dangers of jumping out of trees. Hayner however had started a chain reaction, and now several others were following his example.

Naminé and Kairi climbed the tree one after another, although not very high, before jumping in hand-in-hand screaming the whole way down, mad grins on their faces. Olette just about fainted. Pence had to distract her with the fact that if anyone got hurt, it was not her fault they were stupid and didn't listen. This helped her considerably.

Roxas watched as people challenged each other, and laughed when Riku had to hold Sora back from joining in on the stunts.

"But I wanna jump _too_!" Sora whined

" No."

Riku's words were absolute, but Sora didn't quite seem to understand that.

"You never let me do _anything_ fun," the brunette continued, "You're not my mother."

"Thank God for that, I probably would have strangled you by now if I was," Riku grinned, while Sora continued to pout and fuss, like a child.

Zexion nudged Roxas, pointing back to the tree, "Look."

Roxas' blue gaze followed up the tree to find a lanky redhead scaling the branches, higher, and higher, and higher…

"Oh my God, he's going to get himself killed," Roxas muttered. Who would have thought his body guard would die, not during the line of duty, but from being a dumb teenager? Not Roxas.

"What do you think you're doing?" He called up, cupping around his mouth to be heard better.

Axel looked down and over towards the rocks, he grinned and waved. Either he was ignoring the blonde, or he couldn't hear him clearly. Roxas was preparing to yell that he should get down when Axel launched himself from the tree without warning.

_Well, it was nice knowing him_, Roxas thought wryly as the redhead splashed through the water to the cheers of the crowd. Roxas rolled his eyes, but was smirking. It _was_ pretty funny to watch, especially with the face the redhead had made right before he hit the water, as if he'd just then realized how _bad_ of an idea it had been to jump form so high up.

Still smirking, Roxas waited for his guard to surface. Enough seconds ticked by, and Axel should have surfaced by now…

Frowning, Roxas sat up a little higher, trying to see over into the water, "Where..?"

The group on the ledge was getting anxious as well. Someone asked if they should jump in after him, another asked if anyone could see him.

"There he is!" Namine called, pointing into the water farther down than he had jumped.

"It looks like he's flowing with the current towards the rocks! One of you guys grab him!" Pence yelled to the group on the rocks.

Roxas was leaning over his rough boulder into the water, anxiously scouting for red. His heart was pounding in his throat as stress made his whole body tense. He may have thought if would be funny if Axel hurt himself, but he didn't actually _want_ Axel to get hurt…

"There he is! Get him Rox!" Sora yelped excitedly, nearly bouncing off his rock.

Roxas leaned over and placed his hand in the water, preparing to grab the body that seemed to be coming towards the rocks a little faster than your average current. However, mind muddled with panic, Roxas paid it no attention.

Stretching out his fingers, he scraped the top of one of Axel's arms, his heart sunk in horror, he wasn't going to be able to grab him; the other was too deep—

Just as suddenly as the panic had risen, like bile in his throat, Axel's face swarmed up and out of the water, straight into Roxas', a mad grin stretching across his cheeks.

The blonde automatically launched back onto the rock with a cry of surprise, Axel following and latching onto the rock to keep from flowing past with the current. The red head was tall enough to reach the shallow sand and rocks and stand in the river in front of the boulder. Roxas was able to have a moment of jealousy over the difference in height before he leaned forward and punched the grinning fool.

"Ouch, jeez Roxie! Quit with the abuse," Contrary to his words, Axel was laughing, "Did I scare you that badly?"

"We thought you were dead!" Sora said excitedly, totally absorbed into the joke and laughing along with Axel.

Axel laughed boisterously, "Aww, I bet Roxie wishes that was the case."

A small rock collided with his head, and Axel turned, "What the hell, ow…"

Roxas was wandering all over the rock island, trying to find another pebble to launch at his 'guardian'.

"You're an asshole, that's what. I can't even stand you anymore—" the blonde became so angry he could hardly speak and just sputtered furiously, his face turning purple.

"Roxie—" Roxas' angry expression worsened, "_Roxas_, settle down, it was just a joke."

The taller teen hefted himself up onto the island and tried to walk over to his charge, holding his arms wide as if to offer a peace offering. When Roxas didn't react besides continuing to huff and puff angrily and jump to the larger island, Axel began to get fed up.

"Roxas, cut it out, you're being ridiculous. I thought you were going to tone down on being a complete shit. You're going to ruin this trip if you don't stop being a baby," Roxas opened his mouth angrily to speak but was cut off, "Yes, I can see why you'd be angry, it was kind of a crude joke, but enough bitching is enough."

Roxas' chest tightened in embarrassment at being told off in front of the others on the rocks, and the fact that Axel was right. He _was_ being a total dick again, and he knew it. It was just so _hard_ to not respond with his automatic abrasive attitude. Heaving a sigh he rubbed his face in frustration, groaning into his hands. Why couldn't he just act normal for five minutes instead of going all ROAR-ROXAS-ANGRY-ROXAS-SMASH?

"'m sorry," he mumbled, his face still behind his hands, "I know I'm being a jerk, and I'm sorry."

"It's just his time of the month," Sora quipped, snickering.

His twin snapped around and shot him a look of promised mutilation and Sora 'eeped' and laughed.

"Here I am, trying to not be a jerk, and you go off ruining it with your smartass remarks—"

"It's not our fault you need anger management," Riku said lazily, flicking water at the bigger rock. Roxas' face once again began to turn purple, but he kept his mouth tightly shut, not wanting to prove Riku's point. The silver haired boy laughed aloud as he watched his friend struggle. Roxas plopped himself angrily on the rock. Zexion sighed at all the drama, deciding it was time to go for a much needed swim.

"Well, now that _that_ is over with," Axel joined Roxas in sitting on the larger rock to absorb the sun.

"Man Axel, you're pale. You're making my eyes hurt," Sora grimaced and squinted over at Axel and his fair skin as it reflected the sunlight with a glare.

"I know, it's beautiful, isn't it?" he replied, sprawling himself dramatically on the island.

Sora laughed while Riku and Roxas snorted.

"Hey, Rox?"

"Yes, Sora?"

"I bet I can hold my breath under water longer than you can."

"Sora, I'm not going to play one of your retarded games."

"Only 'cause you're _chicken_."

"No, because you're _stupid_."

"Liar," the brunette stuck his tongue out at his twin, before sliding off the sharp, scratchy rock and into the water, "Come on, just amuse me until one of us runs out of breath, and I'll leave you alone."

Roxas paused and put on his thinking face, "For how long?"

"Until bedtime," Sora grinned. Roxas pursed his lips, thinking it over.

"Fine. No funny business."

"Deal!" Sora splashed happily while Roxas followed suit and slid back into the river.

"Deep down I feel like Sora is an evil genius," Axel laughed, watching the two boys' shenanigans.

"Nah, Roxas is just a giant push over," Riku replied, smirking.

"Both of you shut up, someone say when," snapped the blonde. The silverette (2) raised his hand indicating he was willing.

"Go."

The twins took deep breaths, held them and dunked under the water at the same time. Once under the surface, all outer noise cut out, and all Roxas could hear the sound of the current and muffled voices and distant splashes. The surge of the current was much more powerful under the surface, and Roxas had to latch onto the giant boulder for support so as not to be swept away.

He began counting in his head, tempted to open his eyes to see if Sora was cheating or such, but knew better than to do that without goggles on. Sitting there patiently he began to feel the first itches of breathlessness around 11 seconds.

Something slick trailed quickly across one of his legs and Roxas had to resist the urge to gasp and lash out. It was probably just Sora trying to freak him out, was what he was trying to convince himself when he felt another slick sensation across his legs.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Roxas remembered that this was a river, and in rivers there were fish. At this moment though, Roxas was too freaked out to think rationally and ended up jumping and lashing around in the water so fiercely he hit the top of his head hard on the boulder.

Groaning inwardly his hands let go of the rock to hold onto his aching head as he curled in on himself into a ball. He floated to the surface, back first, and didn't uncurl until he felt hands on his back. Gasping in air he opened his eyes to the bright sun, and climbed back onto the island with Axel's help.

"Ow, ow, ow , ow, oww!"

"What happened?" Axel asked, watching worriedly as the boy clutched his scalp, his thin legs pulled up to his chest and his little toes curled in pain. Riku and Sora watched from the smaller rock, Sora having been made aware that Roxas has caved first.

"I hit my head, there was a fish or something, and it freaked me out," He hissed, bringing one of his hands to his face to inspect it. "I can't tell if I'm bleeding or not. My hands are all wet and they look pink. It could be watery blood or just how my skin looks. I can't tell."

The boy continued to mutter sadly, his face contorted with the pain. The lanky redhead motioned for Roxas to come closer, "Let me see."

He complied, moving his hands out of the way and tilting his head lower for easy access.

Axel gasped, "Oh my God, it's gushing!"

Roxas' head snapped up, his face horrified only to see Axel grinning.

"Totally kidding; you're fine, just a little red bump."

The blondes face slowly relaxed, his blue eyes blinking owlishly as his mind processed the words that were said to him. To Axel's pleasant surprise, Roxas smiled, then grinned, and then finally began laughing.

Axel didn't know what to do, really. Roxas had never smiled at him personally, let alone laughed at anything he'd said or done. He looked over at Riku and Sora at a loss for words. Riku shrugged, a similar expression to his own, and Sora just grinned.

Roxas held his stomach while he laughed, slowly dying down to giggles, and wiping his eyes for tears. Whether they were from pain or laughter, not even the blonde knew.

"Did…did I break him?" Axel asked, bemused.

**TBC**

* * *

**A/N:** (1) Lol, how many of you thought something dirty was going on? Just so I don't get asked, the skin slapping sound was the other people hitting the volley ball ;}

(2) I don't care that this isn't a word, fuck off, lol.

Erm, me thinks I may have a deep dark unrealized liking for bloody noses, because they seem a common occurrence in the story…or maybe it's just Roxas xD A lot of painful accidents this chapter. I like my fandom with a bit of blood apparently. I am a sadist, I suppose. Your thoughts?


	9. HiatusAuthor's Note

I'm putting this story on a (most likely) permanent hiatus. I've lost the drive for this story. It started when I lost my access to internet in my house, and then I just never felt like finishing it.

Now that I have internet again I still can't seem to find the energy to finish it. My writing style has changed, and I just don't know how to keep going with this story.

Maybe the problem is I need to re-write it. I'm sorry to those of you who have waited for new chapters and have stuck around. I really wish I could make this up to you.

Thank you, and I'm sorry.

-SeldomFollowIt


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